Danse With Me
by ThatWritingLady
Summary: Set after the events of Blind Betrayal, Danse and the Soul Survivor have to figure out how to pick of the pieces of a shattered world. Warning - Spoilers ahead.
1. Chapter 1

**Danse With Me – Part One**

 **Danse**

Paladin Danse… no, not Paladin. Not anymore. It was odd to think about – odd to imagine my life as anything other than what it had been for the past years.

But Maxon had ruled, and there was no going against his orders. Though I had been exiled from the brotherhood, it was still my blood. I lived and breathed it… and I was an abomination to their cause. There were parts of me that wished Quinn had simply put me out of my misery when he'd had the chance. There was another part of me that remembers standing behind him, vulnerable without my power armor, and seeing his broad shoulders square, his body rigid.

I remembered the way that he stared down Maxon and refused to let him kill me.

I remembered it all so well, and the thought of it made my chest tight – I hadn't been close to anyone since Cutler. Quinn had been a constant companion since he'd shown up at the Cambridge Police Station, gunning down ghouls as though he'd been a part of the Brotherhood all along.

Even then, I'd felt a jerk of excitement in my stomach when he'd agreed to join us. His green eyes had been vivid with excitement, and his dark hair sticking to his forehead from the exhaustion of traveling the Wastelands. We'd traveled the entire Commonwealth together, and even beyond… and at each turn, Quinn had surprised me with his bravery, his skill with a pistol, his determination to achieve his goals… and sometimes, he'd surprised me with the way he spoke.

"Does that mean you'd be there to hold me, if I ever needed it?" His full lips had quirked up into a playful grin – I was flustered then, stuttering over my answer.

I was flustered now, just thinking about the fact that he'd asked me that question. He'd left the bunker to smooth everything over with Elder Maxon – I had a feeling that he was going to come back a very promoted survivor. Maxon wouldn't let a gap form in the ranks, and for all intents and purposes, I was dead. Quinn had killed me. There would be glory for him, whether it was the truth or not.

A part of me feared that he wouldn't return. I was cleaning out the bunker, prepping it for a new living quarters for myself. My power armor, my belongings, everything that I'd called my own was on the Prydwen, in my quarters. I was never going to see it again.

The thought depressed me. I didn't dwell on it though – Quinn would come back. Though I was frightened that he wouldn't, that he would realize I was nothing more than an abomination, a machine… something in my… I suppose my programming, told me that he'd be here.

I'd cleaned up most of the bunker, and even found myself a new set of power armor, when I heard footsteps approaching.

I was instantly at attention, turning to face the intruder – and I was met with Quinn, standing in my power armor, with a huge grin on his face.

"I thought you might want this – I've never seen you without it." He looked me up and down, and then gave a mock frown. "I can see that you've already replaced it, so my efforts are clearly in vain." With a small sigh, he stepped out of the suit, leaving my armor – the armor that I'd never thought to see again – standing in the corner of the room. "It smelled like you anyway." He wrinkled his nose and chuckled, but I could see the light in his eyes.

"How did you acquire that?" As soon as I asked the question, I knew. It had been his reward, his trophy for killing the hostile synth.

"Maxon thought that it was a good reward for a job well done." I could see the indignant outrage on Quinn's face, but I wasn't going to let him act on it. I shouldn't have, but I still felt loyal to my Elder.

"Let's not talk about that at the moment." My voice was dismissive, and I could see the way that he literally had to bite his lip. He took a moment to transfer his pistol's to his person, and then stepped away from the power armor.

"Well, it's all yours, I don't want it." Though his tone was full of humor, I could tell that it bothered him.

There was something bothering me, too. "Quinn?" I hesitated. I wasn't sure that I wanted to talk about this at all. Still, if I had no other confidant, it was Quinn. "Can we talk about something?"

"Are you okay, Danse?" The concern was clear in his voice.

"I'm sorry, I really thought this would be easier to talk about. There's so much I wanted to say, but I don't know where to start." I could hear the stutter in my voice, and I could see the concern on Quinn's face deepen.

"This has something to do with you being a Synth, dosen't it?" I hated hearing him say those words, but I couldn't just play this off as only that. There was more bothering me, and I'd been thinking about it since Quinn had left – I'd been thinking of my place in the world, and I found that the sensation of being lost was too much – before I could stop myself, I exploded into speech.

"Believe it or not, it's deeper than that. I've spent my entire life, or at least what I perceive as my life, following a plan to shape my own future. But since my banishment, I feel lost. Almost like I exist without purpose. For the first time since that moment I signed up with the Brotherhood, I don't have all the answers. I don't have a plan, and it scares the hell out of me."

Quinn quickly held up one hand, trying to interrupt me. "It's impossible to plan your life. Hell, I didn't expect to wake up 200 years in the future." He tried to laugh, tried to calm me down, but I couldn't help myself. I still had more to say.

"Yet you've been able to roll with every punch that's been thrown at you." No matter what we'd been though together, he'd managed it all with a grace that made me admire him, and humor and honesty that made my chest ache. "Don't you understand? Everything I've had, everything I knew is gone. In the span of a few hours, my identity was ripped form me and my world was turned upside down. At least what you had was something tangible, something real. Your wife, your son, they were living, breathing humans who loved you and cared for you. Those sons of bitches who created me couldn't even be bothered to implant memories of having siblings or parents. I don't even know how much of my past is artificial and how much is real." My head lowered, my shoulders falling limp in my power armor. "Can you even imagine that? I started out as nothing, and I've ended up as nothing. And I don't know what the hell to do about it."

He took a step forward, leaning so that he could catch my gaze – though he was tall, the power armor made it easier for him to look up at me. "Hang in there, Danse. You need to fight this thing."

"I'm not giving up. Not yet." His eyes stayed locked with mine, and I felt my mouth go dry. There was still more I needed to say. "I suppose you're right. Maybe I'm just missing the point. My life's starting over, and I need to come to terms with everything I've lost, and everything I've gained. Which includes something important, which you've made me realize." I lifted my gaze, but the next words that I spoke were hard to get out – my heart was thundering, and I could feel every fiber of my being shaking beneath the power armor that hid my nervousness. "I don't know if it's friendship, or an anomaly in my programming…" A wistful smirk crossed my features, "After all, I'm not really human… but whatever it is…" I took a breath, and then met his gaze fully. His eyes were wide, his lips parted… he was so beautiful. "I can't deny that I'm feeling closer to you than anyone I've ever met."

He stared at me, and it seemed like the moment went on for eternity. I feared that he was going to scoff, turn away. That he was going to rebuke me for my confession – my confession that held so much more meaning than what I'd said. Finally, Quinn spoke. "I feel the same way, Danse. I'm only hoping it's more than just friendship."

My heart seemed to stop for a moment – he'd read between the lines of what I'd said. He was confessing the emotions that I couldn't utter. "Are you saying you're… in love with me?" If I had misunderstood him, I didn't want to make a fool of myself – my heart, or whatever it was inside of me, wouldn't be able to take it. "This doesn't make any sense. After everything the brotherhood taught you, how could you be in love with… well… a machine?"

Instantly, his face held outrage, "I don't care what I was taught. You're more important to me than any of that." His instant need to stand up for me, to defend me even from myself, caused me to nearly stagger. I'd never felt such strong emotions before. Never in my life, or the memories that had been given to me.

"I… I honestly don't know what to say. I didn't expect our conversation to lead to this." Nerves instantly threw up defenses, and I did my best to tumble through the walls. "Look, I'm not going to lie to you, you're going to have to be patient with me. Coming to terms with these human feeling sis going to be a journey. But if we can tackle those obstacles together…" I felt a small smile grace my lips, "I think this relationship could last for a long time."

Quinn stared at me for a moment, and then leaned forward. His fist knocked on my power armor, and he grinned up at me. "If you'll come out of that suit, I have something for you." He stared up at me expectantly, as though all of this revelation of emotion wasn't completely overwhelming him. Quinn was taking it in stride, as he always seemed to do in hard situations. He grinned up expectantly at me… and I found myself a bit leery of getting out of the armor. I looked around, and I could actually hear him chuckling. "Come on, Danse, I'm not going to bite." And then, after a second, he quirked a brow. "Unless you want me to."

My cheeks burned – a full on blush. I quickly stepped out of the power armor, if only so I could hide my features from him. From the sound of his chuckle, though, he'd seen my face.

I took my time stepping down, so that my pulse had slowed just a little, "What was it, soldier?" Back to my formality – just because I'd said we could work on our relationship didn't mean I was going to be able to dive into it immediately. I'd never had a relationship that wasn't simply brotherhood, friendship – I didn't know how to simply start it. Apparently, the Institute had failed to program that information for me. I was going to have to learn.

As I stepped around my armor, Quinn was suddenly flying forward. I'd seen him do this when he was disarming frags, and it had caused my pulse to jump every time. Now was no different – automatically, my hand went to my side to find my rifle – I cursed at the realization that it, along with everything else, was still aboard the Prydwen. In a burst of motion, Quinn was against me. At first, I thought he was knocking me out of the way…

And then I felt his arms loop beneath my own, going around my waist – he pulled me close, and the sensation of his facial hair scraping against my cheek, my neck, sent my skin tingling. He leaned forward, and kissed the pulse of my throat. "I've wanted to do this for such a long time – you're always in that damn armor, and it hardly seemed appropriate when I was here last."

I was stiff in his arms for a moment – I could feel the strength in his grip… and my body didn't know how to react. I actually felt him chuckle, his lips turning up against my skin. "Loosen up, Danse. It's just a hug."

Slowly, my body began to relax, I felt it shift one muscle at a time, until I slowly melted against him. Nothing had ever felt so good, nothing had ever felt so right. I'd been thinking about how this would feel since he'd asked me if I would hold him.

Now, he was holding me… and I was trembling.

I felt his body tense, but the smile never left his lips. "Wow, Danse… is it because you aren't in your power armor, or what?" I could hear the curious interest in Quinn's voice. "I've never seen you shake before."

Did I have it in me to be honest again? "I've faced down super mutants, ghouls, synths," I laughed at that word, "And raiders… but I've never felt so frightened as right now." I paused, hesitating. Quinn's voice was much softer as he spoke.

"Why are you afraid, Danse?"

"I've never felt so happy." My words came out in a soft rush, and my voice was ragged. "I'm afraid that now that I've felt it, it will be taken away. I'm afraid that you'll realize I'm just a machine, and you can do bett-"

Quinn's soft lips crushed against my own in a sudden rush of movement. My words were caught up, swallowed down by his passion. He didn't push, but there was an intensity behind the feel of his mouth hungrily against my own – his arms pulled me tighter, so that I could feel the taut muscles of his body. After a moment, I pulled my head back with a small gasp. Quinn's green eyes were warmer than I'd ever seen them, and he smiled brilliantly at me.

"Quinn, what if-"

He cut me off with a chuckle. "Danse. Just shut up," his fingers fisted into my shirt and he pulled me closer, so that his lips were brushing against mine as he spoke. "You think too much."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: This story started out as some self-indulgent, head cannon smut... but it's actually developing much further. I have around 6 Chapters so far, and... I swear, Danse and Quinn are going to set the Commonwealth right. Until then, please enjoy aforementioned self-indulgent, Danse sexiness. 3**

 **Part Two**

 **POV – Quinn**

My mouth was still tingling from the first kiss that I shared with Danse. I'd imagined it in my mind more times than I could remember, but the reality of it was better than any dream I'd ever had. I'd felt an attraction to Danse since the first moment that I'd seen him without his helmet on. That gruff voice had smoothed out, and I saw his light brown eyes alight with fire. Even with his rough looks, he was the most beautiful man that I'd ever met.

The Commonwealth was a daunting place – it had only seemed like a few minutes had passed. I'd watched Nora shot in front of me, and my son Shaun taken away. Nora, I had already begun to get over. I'd only married her because it was expected that I do so – there was no love between the two of us. The town, my family, my father… everyone had expected me to find a pretty, blonde bride. I'd complied. Though we'd gotten along well enough to begin with, I knew that Nora could sense that something wasn't right between the two of us. We tried, we pretended… but the relationship wasn't there. I would avenge her because she was my partner, and though we hadn't been truly in love, we had at least cared for one another.

I would avenge her, because I thought that it was the only way that I would ever find Shaun…

Now that I had found my son, I wasn't sure about anything anymore.

The only thing that I was sure of was the man whose arms were slowly creeping around me.

Danse.

Danse, even though he was a synth…

Danse, even though he had wanted to die as an example to the brotherhood…

Danse had always stood strong beside me.

Everything came back to Danse, and I wasn't going to give up the only thing that made sense to me in this post-apocalyptic world. I'd known that from the moment that Maxon had asked me to hunt him down. I was only happy that he hadn't sent someone else to do it; I didn't want to think about what would have happened if anyone but myself had found him.

He'd wanted to die.

Just the thought of that caused my chest to ache, and I pulled him closer. I knew that my emotions were rippling over my features, and Danse pulled away from me again. "What is it, Quinn?"

Hearing him say my name caused me to melt just a bit on the inside. He usually called me soldier, or some other military name. I couldn't count the times that he'd actually said my name… and I savored the sensation that it gave me. I only had a second to do so, because Danse was already pulling back from my embrace. "Should we stop this? I don't want to make you uncomfortable." His voice was quick to answer, and I could tell that there was pure paranoia and nerves in his response. I shook my head quickly and took his hand in my own. I wouldn't force too much too quickly on him, even though my entire body was aching, begging me to go back to tasting his lips.

"I was just thinking of how shitty this world would be without you in it, Danse." I gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. "I'm glad you decided to stay with me."

He only paused for a moment, and then answered. "I'm glad that you convinced me." I could see that he was sincere by the look on his face, and I chuckled.

For a moment, we stood in the silence. There were a thousand words that could have been said, and a thousand things that I could have done… but I knew that this new relationship was something that I would have to take slowly. Trepidation wasn't really the correct word, but walking a fine line was necessary. I didn't want to scare him off. Everything in Danse's world was changing, and I wasn't going to make him feel like I wasn't a rock that he could rely on.

Even if that meant that I had to suppress my need to jump him then and there.

Instead, I flicked my eyes to the doorway. "It was getting dark when I got here. We should rest for the night, and then maybe we can start out again tomorrow." I saw the smile twitch his lips, and I knew that it was because I spoke as though nothing had changed.

I wasn't going to let anything change.

If I had anything to do with it, I'd find a way to get him back onto the Prydwen… Maxon was wrong about this, and at least I knew it. Convincing my former Paladin to go along with me was going to be another matter altogether.

During my absence, Danse had managed to clean up the bunker a bit. There was one sleeping station set up, and when he led me to it, he turned to glance at me awkwardly. "I… uh… wasn't sure that you'd be coming back." I gave him a flat look, and he quickly added, "Tonight. Maxon might have sent you on another mission. You can take the sleeping arrangement, and I'll just stand guard." He turned to go back to the door, and I had to hold in a chuckle.

"How about we just sleep here together?" I saw his shoulders tense in a rigid line, and I added in a gentler tone, "We don't have to do anything… but it would be nice to know that you're beside me." I knew Danse – if I made it about him being a comfort, helping me, protecting me, shielding me? He would always be there for me. There wasn't an instant that I could remember where he hadn't stepped in front of me during a fight while I used a Stimpak. He was always there, making sure that I was okay. Honestly, there was truth to it. I hadn't even had the chance to talk about what had happened in the Institute – not that I told Danse a lot about my past. I'd been trying to pretend that it didn't bother me, trying to act strong and roll with the punches. My revelation about Shaun, about the Institute… about everything? It chilled me to the bone. The only thing that I wanted was to lay down next to the man who I'd just confessed my feelings for and rest.

For a moment, I wanted to pretend that the world wasn't a mess, and that I was just a normal man sleeping next to the person he loved.

Danse seemed to read every emotion as it flew across my features. I saw his lips turn down into a frown for a moment, and he quickly stepped forward. At first, I thought he was going to pull me into his arms, but instead he moved past me. In a movement that wasn't graceful (I could tell that he felt awkward out of his power armor) he laid himself down on the bedroll. With a glance to make sure that there was enough space beside him, he pat the mattress.

"Come on then. I'll still keep guard for you." Of course, he'd put me against the wall. He was going to take the outside of the mattress, to make sure that nothing could get to me. My throat felt tight, but I nodded. I carefully slipped into the small space beside him, feeling the instant warmth of his well muscled back against my chest. I let out a small, shuddering sigh of relief, and slowly slipped my arm around his taut waist. For a moment, he was tense, but he quickly relaxed.

"You're safe, Quinn. Nothing's going to harm you while I'm here to stand guard. Try to rest." He didn't turn to look at me, but I felt his warm hand come up and take my own. He pulled my fingers up along his chest and brought them to rest over his heart.

Maybe he was a tin man, but I could still feel that sweet beat, pulsing slightly faster than usual at our proximity. I wanted to speak – wanted to say something to let him know what this meant to me. I wanted to tell him that he was more of a man than anyone I'd met since waking up… that he was more human than most of the people I'd encountered in my life… but words failed me. I was sucked into the sweet scent of his body, the warmth of his back, and the tender sensation of him holding my hand.

Without meaning to, I fell into a deep sleep.

My dream was different than usual. Nightmares were no new face to me, but they had always involved Shaun as a young child, calling my name. Asking for my help. Sometimes Danse was there, sometimes the other people that I'd met in the Commonwealth. They were always crying out my name, always asking for some kind of help… and I was always trapped in a Cryosleep machine, unable to get to them.

This time, it was Danse who called out my name. I saw Shaun there – but not the young child that I had so often wished for. It was the older man, and there was a wicked smile on his features. He leaned forward, injecting Danse with a long needle. Instantly, I saw his features begin to distort, his body shifting and changing – a Super Mutant.

His voice was gruff when he spoke, his eyes haunted. "Kill me. I should be an example, not an exception."

"Danse, no!" My voice was an ache as I spoke, and I pounded against the glass of my prison. Shaun simply chuckled, and pulled out a plasma pistol.

"As you wish, synth."

"No!" I beat harder against the glass, but I couldn't escape as Shaun took aim and pulled the trigger. "Danse!"

A hand on my shoulder, shaking me roughly, woke me from my fitful sleep. My fingers instantly went for the pistol's I kept at my hip, and two strong arms pinned me down. I fought for just a moment, before the sweet scent of Power Armor grease, sweat, and the smoky smell unique to Danse filled my senses. I opened my eyes, and he was there on top of me. He had used his body to pin down my own, and his hands pulled my arms up along either side of my head. I saw fear on his face, and concern. Behind that, there was a hotter emotion, but I couldn't read it.

"Quinn? Are you all right?" He didn't get off of me, but he shifted his hips so that his body straddled mine without the full pressure of his weight against me. "You were screaming and punching." He looked at my hands, and I felt a sharp sting. "You made yourself bleed."

I didn't care about the pain, or my wounds. I only cared about the fact that Danse's head hadn't been turned to red dust. I leaned up, but his arms kept my body pinned down and restrained.

"Danse, let me up."

"You were screaming my name." His face was so sincere, and I had only noticed that he'd stripped down to just his pants, the top half of his jumpsuit hanging off of his hips, slung low so that I could see the line of his pelvis forming into a perfect V.

"I was having a nightmare." My voice was soft and distant. Now that I saw his exposed upper body, I couldn't help but to admire the well-muscled frame.

"About me?" His voice was soft, and the tone instantly jerked my gaze up to his own. Whatever he was thinking, it wasn't kind to himself.

"About someone taking you away from me. About the Institute hurting you." I still didn't want to mention Shaun, not yet. But I wanted to take the pain from his eyes. I attempted to push myself up again, but he still held me down. There was such strength in his arms – he seemed not to realize that he had such power. His armor had given him the confidence to stand strong, but he didn't realize his own strength.

"You sounded so frightened. I've never heard your voice like that." His tone was still soft, but there wasn't an undercurrent of self-loathing anymore.

"I never want to lose you." My voice was ragged, and I saw his face change. His lips parted for a moment, and he slowly lowered his body. Danse's hands kept my arms pinned above my head, but it was his lips that found my own this time. The kiss was rougher than what I'd expected, and I realized that he really didn't know what he was doing.

He was approaching this in the same way that he approached everything else – with strength, power, precision… but I could feel the way that his body shook and trembled, and I could feel it as he instantly pulled back at the small sound that spilled from my chest.

"Did I hurt you?" His eyes were full of concern, and a ghost of my usual smile flicked across my lips.

"Not at all – you just surprised me." I could feel the length of him, hard beneath his jumpsuit. Though he didn't say anything, his body told me what he wanted. His hands kept me pinned down, as though he didn't trust himself to my touch. "Please, don't stop?"

If I had to do it this way, at his pace, on his terms, I would take it. He looked at me questioningly for a moment, and his dark black hair was falling forward into his eyes. Those eyes were full of some darker heat, something that I'd never really seen from him before. The only thing that could possibly compare was the look he got when we were clearing out a nest of Super Mutants – ferocity, strength, tribulation… need.

That need was directed at me, and it made my stomach squirm.

He slowly lowered his head again, whispering words softly. "Stay still, Quinn. Let me do this…" As though, even now, he could still teach me. He could still take control. It was funny, because I had a feeling that Danse had never done anything like this before. But here he was, trying to take charge, trying to show me that he was strong enough to be there for me… and I wasn't going to stop him.

His mouth found mine again, and it was just as fierce as the first time. When I moaned, his teeth found my lips, and he bit against the sound hungrily as though he meant to drown it down. I could feel the heat of his skin against my own, like a fire was beginning to burn between us. He pushed my wrists together, holding them in one hand – I was forced to realize yet again that his fingers were so much larger than mine. He was such a big… man…

His free hand came down, cupping my cheek, sliding behind my neck to tilt my head back. My mouth fell open at his touch, and his tongue hungrily invaded my mouth. He licked and lapped like a man starving, like the taste of me was the first drink that he'd had in his entire life. It was he who moaned this time, and when he pulled back from the kiss, his eyes were wild. They were full of heat and panic, fear and passion… he was a man on fire, and I knew that he wasn't sure what to do about it.

"Danse…" My body was burning, and I heard my voice fall into a soft whimper. "Please? Danse…" I was panting, squirming beneath him, and I could see that it took every bit of restraint to stop himself from spilling forward again. A soft sheen of sweat glistened on his body in the twilight of the room, and I wanted to taste it with my tongue.

Still, he hesitated before me. His eyes were like fire, and I was burning from the inside out. I saw a brief flicker of pain cross his face, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the heat that was licking higher and higher with each second that our bodies were pressed to one another.

"Quinn…" His voice was husky, gruff, sexy… and he leaned down to claim my lips again.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: So, this is the last part of the story that I wrote before I realized this was going to turn into an actual, real story. Enjoy!

 **Part Three**

 **POV – Danse**

Everywhere that I touched Quinn was fire… and pain. The feeling of my body against his own was something that I'd been thinking about for some time. The feeling of our bodies together, now that I knew what an abomination I was… it was guilt incarnate. Quinn deserved more than what I had to offer. I'd thought, when he first woke, that his screaming had been a nightmare about me. About what I was.

I'd been lying beside him for hours, but sleep wasn't coming to me. He held me tight, and just the proximity of him made me feel like I was being engulfed in flames. Guilt and desire were unbidden dance partners, and they moved to the beat of my thundering heart. I'd had to strip down just to keep myself from bursting into flames, and doing so had only caused more problems. Even in his sleep, Quinn seemed to know that my bare flesh had been exposed. His fingers skimmed along my chest, greedily touching my exposed skin, and it had caused me to tremble. I'd rolled over after a few minutes of this, and his hands pulled me tighter. He snuggled his face against my neck, breathing in my scent… and I'd let my fingers spill upward. I touched his strong arms, his soft hair, the rugged line of his jaw. My fingers shook as I did it – all that I knew was roughness, and I was afraid of waking him.

It was as I'd slowly allowed my arms to spill around him that he started to whimper. It wasn't a sexy sound – it was pain. He was muttering, and then he was screaming. He was screaming my name.

I moved in a quick motion, but it wasn't quick enough. His fingers lashed out, connecting with my jaw. I groaned, but moved to pin him down – once, twice, his fists lashed out against the wall… and then he screamed my name again. It was only after I'd called out to him twice that his eyes had flown open. I could tell that, for a moment, he wasn't with me. He was somewhere else, in the embrace of his Nightmare.

I was so afraid that the nightmare had been me… but that wasn't the case.

The way that he squirmed beneath me now though? It told me a completely different story. Whatever circuits ran my mind were in overdrive, because all of the careful control that I'd taught myself through all of the years that I'd existed… it was fading away. I could feel his body hard and taut against me, his arousal answering my own. His green eyes were burning, and his full lips were actually trembling in need.

"Danse…" He squirmed his body against mine, whimpering and writhing. "Please? Danse…" Just the way that he called my name – I was the cause of his nightmare, even if he didn't realize it. The amount of concentration that it took to restrain myself from simply spilling down against him was a tangible thing – I could feel my body sheened with sweat from the exertion. Still, I tried. Quinn was better than this. He deserved more than a synth, more than whatever I was. I felt guilt unbidden, rushing across my senses. His body arced up again, and I felt his cock hard against my pelvis. Desire chased the guilt away with biting, fierce teeth, and I could no longer help myself. I leaned down, and I felt his lips hungry against my own, his tongue lapping in time with my heavy kiss. I knew that I had no idea how to approach this – I hadn't been with a man before. All sexual encounters that I'd had were quick, to the point, and they'd never involved kiss, or real touch. This was another animal altogether. I wanted to control the moment, to be in charge, but Quinn's body seemed hungry to take the wheel.

Even with my hands pinning his own, I could feel it as he began to work. His tongue beat against mine, and when he whimpered against my mouth, I let out a near animal growl. Hungrily, I bit against his lower lip again, bringing his lower body up to thrust against me, begging and wanton. The feel was so good that my free hand ran down between us, grabbing his hips and pulling him close to me. I could feel his body jerk with the movement, with my heavy handed need, but there was no more room for guilt. There was only a need so strong that it blinded me – I was lost in a sea of green that was Quinn's eyes, and a pounding pulse of red that was my need to feel his skin against my own. My fingers moved quickly, ripping away at the Brotherhood of Steel uniform that he still wore, so that it flapped around his hips... I'd seen Quinn's bare flesh before, but it was slick with sweat, and his chest was heaving with need… and I couldn't help myself.

I dove my head down, and it gave him the opportunity that he needed – he twisted his wrist, pulling from my grip, and his fingers spilled forward. Graceful digits tangled into my long, messy hair, and he pulled my face closer to his skin. My mouth was a hungry beast, and I kissed at his chest, tasting the sweet salt of his sweat. I had only worked for a moment before Quinn groaned and pulled me back up to his lips. I was losing my control – both of the situation and of my needs. His fingers were directing me now, and when he put his lips against my own, I was lost to his guidance.

I'd been a Paladin for so long, a high ranked officer who was in charge of showing others the way. Quinn had shown me from the beginning that I still had things to learn. I could tell from the way that his hands roamed over my chest, the way that his lip parted hungrily, that he was going to show me more.

My body was aching, on fire. Whether it was my human frame or my coding, I felt like I was melting from the inside out. I was ready for this.

His tongue played a sweet tango against mine, and I could feel my heart hammering in tune with it – my fingers moved to slip along his arms, down his sides… and to touch the leggings of his Brotherhood uniform; I had a feeling that he was only still wearing it to comfort me. Now, more than anything, I simply wanted him to take it off so that I could have a peek at what was underneath.

My fingers tugged at the fabric, and I found myself incapable of formulating the words that were necessary to make my request. Instead, a low, feral growl spilled from my throat, causing Quinn to squirm in pleasured delight.

"Roger that, big guy." His voice was a tease, but he made quick work of squirming out of the uniform, so that only a pair of tight black shorts barred my gaze from the fullness of his body. I growled out in desire, my fingers plucking at that black fabric, hand eagerly feeling his hardness beneath.

"Oh, fu-" There was a loud bang, and I saw his eyes flare wide. "Fucking God Damn it, REALLY?" Quinn was moving beneath me in a blur of motion that caused my head to whip to the side. I saw the super mutants through the half window. I jumped to my feet.

My body was still hard, aching – my uniform flapped around my hips, while Quinn's laid discarded beside us. He picked up a glow sighted pistol and I watched as the breath left his body. He took aim as though the very world around him slowed down, but even as he did, I knew that his gun alone wasn't going to be enough. I wasn't in my power armor, but I was still going to help.

My own gun was somewhere away from us, and I dove to Quinn's stockpile. It was beneath his jacket that I found the gun that I'd given him after our first mission together – Righteous Authority, I'd called me. It was pristine, clearly taken care of. I'd never seen him use the thing; Quinn always had a pistol at his side. Still… I could tell that he'd cared for the gun. I would talk to him about it later. For now, I picked it up – it felt right in my fingers. With a savage grin, I turned to the super mutants.

"Back to Hell with you then!" My finger pulled the trigger before I'd had a chance to even assess if my aim was correct. I was furious – furious that they'd interrupted us, furious that I wasn't sure if I was going to have the nerve to continue what Quinn and I had started. Those bastards were going to pay.

With my Brotherhood uniform flapping around my hips, I ran through the passageway, keeping my body carefully in between Quinn and the mutants. "To Hell with you all!" I shouted the words, and I could hear it as Quinn's pistol began to fire behind me.

I was always impressed with his ability to annihilate such large creatures, even with something so small as a pistol. Every time I looked, he was cramming another gun into his bag – sometimes, I had to help him carry them because of the weight. I could see that he was making fair use of it now – he took a few shots through the window, and then came barreling around the corner after me.

He was always headstrong, ready to run into anything. Usually, I had my power armor to defend him with. Now, I only had my body – just a machine, useless without his parts. I brought Righteous Authority up and aimed. It only took me a second to locate my target.

In the back of the mutants, lurking ominously, I could see the suicider. The red beep of the nuke in his hand threatened to annihilate us all at a moment's notice. I wasn't having any of it. I swung my gun to the left and shot the arm holding the nuke. With a scream of fury, it exploded.

The blowback rocked me for a moment, though I could still hear Quinn firing his gun. He had his sights in his mind, and nothing would deter him from carrying out his shots. It took me a moment to clear my senses, and as soon as the dust began to settle, I pulled the gun up again. A hound was charging straight at Quinn – I simply wasn't going to have it. The man was a Stimpak addict, willing to take whatever damage necessary to get the job done. His recklessness always led to victory, but the sight of ragged wounds on his body set me on edge. In two quick shots, the hounds head exploded in a wash of blood, and I moved to position myself slightly in front of Quinn on his left.

The fight raged on for longer than I'd wanted, and Quinn had managed to soak in more than a few bullets. After a time, though, the gunfire settled – all that was left of the mutants was piles of flesh and glowing red ash. My heart was thundering, and I could feel the sweat slicking down my frame, tinging now with dirt and blood. I turned to look at Quinn, and a small groan escaped me.

Blood and sweat streaked his chest, and I could see where he'd been hit multiple times by the attackers. His fingers fumbled against his sides, and I knew that he was looking for the usual stimpak supply he kept at his side. When he couldn't find them, he took a small breath and leaned against the wall. His lean, well-muscled body was slicked and glistening… and I had to tear my gaze away from him.

"I'm going to disable the elevator, and then we'll check out your wounds." I didn't give him a chance to argue. I kicked aside an arm and moved to the elevator panel; no super mutant that I knew could hack a system. After a moment, I turned my attention back to Quinn. He was leaning with his head back against the wall, his eyes closed. For a moment, I was worried that he was hurt. I rushed to him, surprised at my speed without the clunking power armor slowing me down. I was at his side before I'd even drawn a full breath.

"Are you all right?"

He opened one eye and I could see the frustration there. Blood graced the corner of his mouth, and I saw a cut on his high cheekbone. His full lips turned into a pout, and he grumbled. "Those bastards totally killed the mood."

My eyes widened, and I heard laughter spill from my lips before I could stop it. Here, slicked in sweat and blood, our bodies half nude… the thrill of battle still in the air… and he was worried about my sexual appetites.

I wondered, should I tell him that I hadn't lost anything – in fact, seeing him in the dim light, his body sheening with perspiration and his chest heaving… well, it made me want him all the more. His comment made me bite my tongue – if he thought the mood was ruined, I wasn't going to bring it back up. Instead, I put one arm around him, pulling him to his feet.

"I think there's a medkit in the other room. Let's get you patched up."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" He muttered again, but put his arm around my shoulder and let me lead him away from the carnage of the mutant attack that had so rudely interrupted our encounter.

Goddamn super mutant bastards indeed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four**

 **POV – Quinn**

I was pissed. Honestly, I was probably more pissed than I had a reason to be, but I couldn't help it. Danse and I had been so close to something so amazing, and I could tell that it had been ripped away from us by those damn super mutants. I could suddenly and completely understand the former Paladin's hatred for them – clearly, they had no respect for time that was meant to be private. More than that, I knew that we weren't going to continue with our actions any time soon; the wounds that I'd taken were throbbing, and I knew Danse well enough to know that he was going to tend to those before he did anything else.

Hell, if I was really unlucky, he'd take this attack as a sign that we weren't supposed to be moving so quickly.

Yeah, pissed didn't even begin to cover how I was feeling. I stalked into the other room in nothing but my shorts, and I could feel each muscle in my body tense and alert. I got this way after a fight – I always had, since the war. I was the kind of guy who ran in, guns blazing. It was only a select few men in my platoon that I trusted to guard me from the back. I diffused bombs, and I wielded my pistols with deadly force. I'd sustained more than just a few injuries in my time. I might even go so far as to say I was addicted to stimpaks the same way some people were jet. I just couldn't help myself – I had the need to help, the need to protect, the need to go first if only to make sure that I saved a life that would have been wounded otherwise.

In this situation, it might have been better for me to let Danse go first – but since he wasn't in his power armor, I wasn't about to send him charging in to a situation. I knew that he liked to stand in front of me – there were times when I would actually kneel behind that great metal suit and use it like a wall to shoot around. This wasn't one of those times; just the thought of bullet holes riddling his perfect body was enough to make me wince, and I heard him make a sound behind me.

"Are you hurt badly, Quinn?" I wasn't going to explain to him that the sensation of pain that I felt had nothing to do with my wounds and everything to do with the thought of them being on his body instead. I slowly made it to our bed and let myself fall into a sitting position. I would have just laid down, tried to salvage the night… but I didn't want to bleed all over the covers. If we were going to make this bunker our little secret base, we were really going to have to work on the defenses; I found myself regretting the disabled robotics that I'd had to shoot up to get to Danse in the first place.

I found myself even more furious that we couldn't simply be out and about, on the Prydwen, at the Police Station… Maxon was wrong about Danse, and we were both paying the price for it.

I knew that my fury with the Elder was intensified only by the fact that it was his decision that had gotten us into this mess to begin with. It was his decision that had put the look of doubt onto Danse's face. Of course, it was also his decision that had finally allowed the Paladin to open up to me about how he felt… so I couldn't be completely furious with him.

I still wasn't going to be happy about it, either.

Danse took a few moments to rummage around in the room; I could tell that he'd been pulling in supplies while I'd been off getting promoted to Paladin. He came back with a stimpak and some gauze, and a guilty expression on his face.

"If I'd have stayed in my power armor, you wouldn't have these wounds. I'm sorry, soldier." The formality in his voice was enough to make me grind my teeth – I knew that this was going to happen! I looked up at him, and I knew that my frustration was showing in my face.

"There are going to be times when you can't shield me. I'll be okay. I promise." I tried to let my voice show the softness that I felt, or at least convey the fact that my frustration had everything to do with the fact that we'd had our first moments of passion literally ripped away from us by some hyped up mutated humans. There was still so much to do for the Commonwealth to make it a better place. I sighed and looked up at Danse. His eyes held sorrow like a child's held joy… and I hated to see him with that expression.

"I'll be okay, I promise." I held my arms out to my side and tried to look happy for him. "Come on, Dr. Danse. Patch me up." At least I could enjoy the feel of him touching my body for this. I wasn't going to do anything else tonight. I wasn't going to push anything on him – the last thing that I wanted was for our relationship build on a moment when he wasn't ready. I was just going to secretly curse and imagine that his fingers were his tongue. That sounded about right.

He fell to his knees before me, and I was once more reminded of his lack of grace out of power armor. It was like he wasn't sure what to do with his body. It didn't seem to cause him much trouble, because he was leaning forward and using a bottle of clean water to wet a rag. I gave a small hiss as the fabric touched my wound – bullet holes were always so fun. At least it was an energy weapon, so we didn't have to dig around for the actual fragments. I hissed again, and then felt the sharp sting of a needle hitting my thigh. The pain that I'd been feeling eased, but I could see that my wounds were still open.

"I was afraid of that." His fingers came up, skimming along my flesh. His touch was a ghost of a stroke, as though he was afraid to let his fingers meet my skin. Just that light touch caused me to shiver, taking away the pain that I felt and replacing it with a burning sensation in the pit of my stomach. "The stimpak isn't enough to completely heal you. I know that you usually have at least a dozen of them on you. Where are they?"

I frowned. I was usually prepared for the wasteland, yes. But traveling alone for the first time without Danse, worried about how he was going to react when I returned, how he was going to behave, what we were going to do to fix the entire situation of him being exiled from the Brotherhood? Well, I'd forgotten to stop in at Diamond City to replenish, and I'd met a rather furious Deathclaw on the way back to the bunker.

I was fresh out.

He seemed to be able to read that fact on my face, because he sighed. "We'll have to do this the old fashioned way, then." His light brown hues flickered to mine for a moment, before turning back to my torso. I felt the sting of the rag again, as the water wiped away the blood of my deepest wound. The others were smaller, healing better, but the bullet wound that had hit the left side of my lower chest was nothing to scoff at. If anything, I was lucky that I hadn't simply passed out before the fight was over. I didn't want to think about what would have happened to Danse if I had.

"Just try to hold still until I'm finished." His voice was low, and he pulled the wet rag away from my skin. I could see streaks of pink, where blood was still spilling from my skin. He scowled, and turned. I saw him rummaging through my pack, and after a moment he came up with a case of wonder glue. I gave him a worried glance.

"What are you planning on doing with that?"

"Don't worry, soldier. I may not be a field medic, but I know that you can take care of wounds this way."

"Danse, don't, I'll be just f-" I hissed at the feel of glue stinging against my wound. Danse moved quickly, his fingers pressing against my flesh so that the skin that had split was forced together. The sensation wasn't something that I enjoyed – in fact, it kind of felt like I was being shot all over again. My head fell back, and I closed my eyes. I tried to picture something much better than this; Danse and I, never having been interrupted, would have probably been down to some actual pelvic action by now. I wanted to think of that – I wanted to be feeling his hot mouth against my skin, not the sensation of his fingers squeezing my flesh back together.

It seemed to last for hours, but I knew that the glue dried in minutes. When his fingers left my body, I slowly opened my eyes. Danse's own gaze was hazy with unfettered emotion, and I knew that he'd been thinking things that he shouldn't have. I would have leaned forward, kissed him, but I didn't want to move – I was afraid I'd pop the glue out of place. Instead, I offered him a soft smile. "We've been through worse than this together. I'll be right as rain in the morning."

His smile that he returned was weak, and I knew he didn't mean it. After a moment, Danse grabbed the gauze and used one warm hand to hold the end of it against my torso. When he spoke, his voice was soft, husky. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you now, Quinn."

There was more emotion behind those words than anything that I'd heard before. My hands came forward, and I gently stroked his dark hair out of his gaze. "You aren't going to. I have you as my backup, right? You aren't going to let anything take me out."

He didn't look up at me. He didn't meet my gaze. He didn't even lean into my touch. He simply focused on the task of wrapping the gauze around my torso. Though his eyes didn't connect with mine, he continued to speak in that soft voice. "I believe that we can get through anything together, as long as we have each other's back. But I also know that if I were to lose you, I wouldn't…" He paused, finding the right words, "Function any longer. I've lost everything that I believe in, everything that I thought made me who I was… and yet, in the center of the ruins, you were still standing there with a smile on your face." Still, he didn't look up at me. I wanted to see his eyes so badly. I wanted to move, to hold him, but I didn't want to stop him from this burst of emotion. "I may be a machine, but the Institute must have put an anomaly into my programming… because the way that I feel about you is all too human. The way that I feel when I think about losing you?" He finally looked up, and I could see that his dark eyes were shining. "It's not something that I want to experience. I may not be human," He tied the gauze off in a quick motion. "But I can feel you here." He took my hand, lifting himself up so that my fingers were spread over the warmth of his chest… over the beating of his heart.

My entire body was shaking, and it wasn't from the fury that I'd felt moments prior, or even my arousal. It was from emotion. I'd been feeling these things for Danse from damn near the moment that we'd started traveling together. I couldn't even count how many times I'd dreamt of him, wanted him, thought about him… and now that we were here, I found myself completely overwhelmed with how astonishingly profound his own response could be.

"I'm not going anywhere." My voice was soft, and I flexed my fingers over his bare skin. He continued to look at me for a moment, before standing abruptly. "Danse…" My voice trailed off. There were so many things that I wanted to say, to do… but I could feel my adrenaline slowly fading away… and the pain of our encounter washing over me in a wave of aching exhaustion.

"I'm just fortifying the room, in case we have any more visitors." I watched as he stepped into his power armor and walked to the door. In a quick motion, he blocked the entrance with the steel frame. He stepped into the armor that I'd brought back for him and did the same at the window. After effectively blocking all exists with the frames, he stepped out. He didn't turn back to me immediately. "Perhaps I should stay in one of these?"

"Danse, please," My voice came out too quick, and I could tell that it sounded more than just a little bit frightened. The thought of sleeping right now, without the warmth of him beside me, actually caused terror to pulse through my chest. "Come back to bed. Between the armor and the elevator, I don't think anything else is getting in here. Tomorrow, we'll make a supply run and we'll get this place set up." My gaze was intense, and he slowly turned. When his eyes connected to mine, I knew that he could see the legitimate terror that was still lingering there. He didn't know my nightmares, but it seemed that he could see enough of them to understand that my plea was sincere.

"I'm going to stay awake, keep guard." He picked Righteous Authority up from the ground and brought it to the bed. I only felt a small sigh of relief when he sat down beside me. "You, rest. If you really want to get this place into shape by tomorrow, you're going to need to heal." I could tell by his tone that it was an order, given from a man who was used to dishing them out. It didn't matter. He was beside me – I laid down on the mattress. After a moment, he shifted around a desk so that he could properly lean against it. Only when he was sure that he could keep that upright position, his eyes facing the door and window, did he lean back. His bare chest looked like heaven, and I stretched out beside him.

Gingerly, I laid my head so that it rested just beneath his ribs, touching the top of his well-muscled torso. I could smell his sweet, warm scent, and I felt my body jerk and react again. I wouldn't go there though… he was more than obviously not in that mood. Instead, I wrapped one arm around him, and rubbed my cheek against his skin for the briefest of moments.

"Try to get some sleep yourself, big guy." In a quick motion, I turned my head and kissed his chest – kissed his pulse to let him know that his words were mine, and mine to keep. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Before he decided that he was too much of a distraction to lay beside me, I closed my eyes and let myself drift off to sleep. With his sweet scent in my nose and the warmth of his body pressing against mine, I could only hope that I wouldn't have another nightmare. As I drifted off, I felt his hand move to wrap around me – the one that wasn't holding on to Righteous Authority. The feel of his fingers stroking gently along my spine lulled me into a deep and dreamless slumber.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five**

 **POV – Danse**

Quinn had been asleep for hours. There were no windows to show me what time it was, and I didn't want to active his pip boy to get a reading in case it woke him. The wound that he'd received was more than just some superficial thing, and I wanted him to have as much time as possible to recover from it. Every now and then, I'd hear him mumbling in his sleep. Every time those words were my name, my heart gave a little jolt. I'd never expected to really feel emotions like this – I'd been feeling them for Quinn for some time now… but I'd never thought that I'd act on them. With my position in the Brotherhood, doing so would be wrong.

That position was gone now, and I was left with a man that I could suddenly have, without any repercussions. Why, then, was I punished when I gave in to my desires. He was paler than usual, laying beside me… but if I tried to move, his arms wrapped around me tight, refusing to let go. After the second time I'd tried to get up, if only to reposition myself, and he'd grabbed me tight… I'd given up on the idea altogether. Instead, I leaned back, my fingers stroking along his spine in an attempt to keep him still. If he could rest long enough, his wound would heal.

Though I had said I would keep watch, I could feel exhaustion slowly starting to sweep through my body. It wasn't as though I could be blamed for it – I hadn't slept since I'd heard the news of my… origins. Words flew fast within the ranks of the Brotherhood, and Haylen had found me before anyone else. I'd just gotten back from standing guard over the nukes. I was in my room, in a Brotherhood of Steel uniform, resting on my bed. I knew that I only had a few minutes of rest before I set out to find Quinn, and I wanted to take advantage of them. She'd banged her way into my room, closing the door behind her.

"Danse, you've got to get out of here. Now." Her eyes were wide, panicked. I'd frowned at the time, giving some mention of my orders to watch the nukes. "Listen to me." She shoved an envelope into my hands. "If you've ever trusted me, if you value yourself as my leader, as a Paladin, as a member of the Brotherhood, get out of here. Go to that bunker that we found. Listen to this when you're away from our comrades. Danse," I saw tears streaking down her face, "Please!"

She'd never acted this way with me before, and at the time, I'd been worried that something had happened to Quinn. I nodded quickly, standing. When I opened the door and made my way towards the deck with my power armor, she shook her head. "There's no time. Go!"

I couldn't protest – I'd never seen such anxiety from her. I hopped on the first Vertibird, and forced them to land me directly below the Prydwen. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I ripped the envelope open. She'd told me to make it to the bunker, but I needed to know now if something was wrong with Quinn. My eyes had only scanned over the paper for a moment when I heard shouting coming from the airport.

I heard my name in those shouts. I'd seen the lines on the paper - my DNA, two strands. My name, and the name of a synth.

I'd felt lost, but the instincts that I'd had in the Commonwealth that had kept me alive for so long kicked in. I took off at a run, quicker without the weight of power armor, and I hadn't stopped until I'd made it to the bunker.

Only once I was there did I read the paper in full. I read it again, and again, until finally I threw it to the ground with a small scream of fury and pain. I'd started working on fortifying the bunker, but my heart wasn't in it. I couldn't believe it… I couldn't believe that it was true.

I'd not slept since Quinn and I had started our mission to find those nukes, and even now, I felt guilty thinking about doing so when Quinn was so prone beside me. Everything that had happened was making my entire body ache, my mind, my heart, my soul… if a synth had a soul. I just wanted to close my eyes and wake in my room on the Prydwen, laughing at how this had all been some bad dream. Quinn could have even woken me, teasing me for being out of my armor. My fingers continued to stroke along his back – the scent of blood, acrid with wonder glue, and Quinn's heavy breathing let me know that I wasn't going to wake.

This wasn't a dream. This was my new life, and I was going to have to get used to it. At least I hadn't lost Quinn.

Honestly, I'd thought that I had. When I'd made my defenses, I'd done so in hopes that whoever Maxon sent after me thought of me as hostile – I'd wanted them to take me out without any hesitation, if that's what it came to. I recognized Quinn by the sound of his pistol, his curses as he'd shot down my robots… and I knew that it wasn't going to be as simple as what I'd wanted. He'd been full of concern, worry, and he's refused to let me even think about giving up. He'd stopped Maxon from carrying out his sentence… and he'd stood strong and proud beside me when we were attacked by super mutants. He wasn't going anywhere. This was my new life, and he was the foundation of it.

I didn't know what we were going to go through after this – I knew that it wasn't going to be as it was before. Maxon had made it clear that if I was seen by anyone within the Brotherhood, they were to shoot me on sight. We couldn't simply wander the Commonwealth freely anymore, helping those who needed us. Everything had changed, because the truth of my existence had been uncovered.

There was a part of me that wished we'd never gone against the Institute, because I would have never learned about my origins. Nothing could be done about it now, of course. All that I could do was wait until morning, and take everything one step at a time.

I heard Quinn, a small whimper escaping him. His brows knitted together, and his lips turned into a frown. I wondered, what was he dreaming about now? Whatever it was, I couldn't have him twisting and turning. I could tell that his wound was already mostly healed – if he ripped it open now, we'd have to start the process all over again. I wasn't sure as to what kind of an effect the chemicals in the glue would have on him if I had to pump him full of it multiple times. I didn't want to figure that out.

Instead, I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his cheek. My forehead pressed to the side of his head, and I murmured softly. "Shh, Quinn. Everything is going to be all right. I'm here, be calm…" He would have been embarrassed to know that I'd had to do this before – Quinn talked in his sleep. He was so quiet about his thoughts and feelings, but his emotions played through sometimes by the light of the night. I'd seen his face twist into fear more than once, and I'd taken to gently brushing his hair out of his face and murmuring that he'd be okay. It soothed him more often than not, and he'd settled back in to sleep. The only difference between then and now was that his arms stretched out, and he wrapped them tight around me. His body was warm, and his embrace felt good.

Quinn's face nuzzled against my chest, and I felt the tension slowly spill out of his body. After a few minutes, I let out a soft sigh. This felt nice – this moment, with his arms around me. There was nothing to worry about, nothing to fight. I could pretend, if only for a moment, that I was simply a man… and that when we woke in the morning, everything was going to be fine.

It was a sweet lie, and it was enough to lull me to sleep like a deceitful lullaby.

I woke to the sound of the power armor station in use. My hand instantly spilled beside me, and I felt the spot that Quinn had been laying in cool, evidence that he'd been gone for quite some time. I could have mentally cursed – that man had agility that I couldn't begin to understand. I'd seen him slip around raiders like they were blind and deaf, and clearly he was slick enough to get out of bed without me noticing. I shifted my body slightly, so that I could see around the curve of the wall. He had the new set of Power Armor that I'd found at the station, and he was working with the radio on. I could see his hips actually swaying slightly to the music – some song on the Diamond City Radio Station. He was singing along with them under his breath all of the time, and now made no difference.

For a few moments, I simply laid there and enjoyed the way that he worked. Each time he'd stepped into power armor, used the station, I'd felt my emotions for him rise a little higher. He'd found a pair of pants, but his chest was still bare. I could see the defined muscles of his back as he bent over the station – I couldn't tell what he was doing to the armor, but I could see that the color had already changed. The mechanic sound of whirring let me know that he was making modifications to the actual suit mechanics. He leaned up, stretching slightly. I saw his hand go to his side, and for a moment, he stayed still. I nearly got out of the bed then, but after a second, I heard him laugh, and watched him shake his head. His dark hair flipped back and forth with the motion, and I saw little droplets of moisture fly from the strands. Working on power armor was hard work, and Quinn always made it seem even harder than it was. Sometimes I really thought that he only did it to incite my emotions further.

Surely I hadn't been that transparent in my desire all along?

Regardless, I laid and watched him for a few more minutes before he stood and stepped away from the suit. I could tell that he'd painted it a dark black color, emblazing some symbol across the chest that had nothing to do with the Brotherhood. He'd also modified the helmet with lighting, as well as a few other minor tweaks that I could see made here and there. With a grin, he leaned back. "He'll ruin the paint an hour into us being out there."

I scoffed, and it was that sound that caused him to turn around. The quick motion made his hand come up to his torso again, and I was pushing myself out of the bed before he had a chance to bring his hand down.

"What are you doing, soldier?" My voice was harsher than it should have been, and I saw the way that his brows knit together. He pulled his hand away from his torso, and I saw a shining scar.

"I found another stimpak, and I thought that I'd make myself useful. Maybe with a different look to your armor, we won't have so much trouble walking around the Commonwealth." He gave me a half pout, half smile, "It was supposed to be a surprise."

I was at his side in a few strides. My fingers came forward unbidden to run over his torso. The skin over the scar was slick, fresh, pink… but it was sealed. He laughed as though I'd tickled him, and leaned forward. I felt his arms around my bare chest before I could react, and he hugged me to him. "Good morning to you, too, by the way."

I felt flustered again – his proximity always made me feel that way. I wrapped my arms around him, giving him a quick hug before stepping back. I saw the pout that he'd had earlier deepen, but I graced him with a rare smile that caused his lips to turn up. My attention quickly turned to the power armor. It was a set that I'd stored closer to the bunker, in case of emergencies. It was lucky that I'd had it, though I hadn't been thinking about wearing it when I'd first holed up down here. I wasn't going to make it any harder for the Brotherhood to fulfill their duties.

Now, it looked new and pristine, the black sheen of paint glossy at just being applied. "That's a lot of work for something that I'm going to fight in, Quinn." I chided him gently, but I knew that he wasn't going to take it to heart. His laughter let me know that I was right.

"I figured I'd see you looking handsome in it for a few hours before you destroyed it." He turned his eyes to the armor that he'd brought back. The armor that I'd been given upon reaching the rank of Paladin. "And I had a feeling that you weren't going to don that armor anytime soon, so I figured I'd just… spruce this up for you." His hand came up, and he wiped a droplet of sweat from his forehead, leaving a grease streak across his smooth skin. I had to bite back a small groan; he was so sexy like this. I'd always thought so.

I had to divert my attention from that face, before I did something that neither of us were prepared for. Instead, I glanced around us. The room that had been in such disarray had been straightened up, and I could see that Quinn had been silently working on the bunker for some time. I could even hear the robots that he'd shot up running diagnostics on themselves in the other room. "You've been busy." I could hear the slight accusation in my voice. He'd gotten so much work done that I knew I'd slept for far longer than I'd meant to.

"I didn't want to wake you. I bet you haven't slept in days." His voice was a small scolding sting. "I figured if I got some work done while you were asleep, things would be a little easier starting the day out."

He stood before me as though demanding that I question his actions. I wanted to – I wanted to do a lot of things, but I was overwhelmed by the sensation of gratefulness that I still had this man in my life. Things would have been so different, had we never met. Though I might have never found out the truth of my identity, I would have never felt this warmth that I was feeling spread through my chest now. I felt my lips turn up into another smile. "I'll save the lecture for later then. Is there anything left to do, or did you try to take care of it all while I was asleep."

Quinn grinned at me, and gestured to the other room. "It's still a mess in there. I kicked all of the parts into a pile, but we're going to have to do something with them. Also, I don't have the fineness to fix your little guard bots. I know you had turrets as well. We should get those defenses operational, and maybe get the front of the structure fortified. Don't worry, Danse," He chuckled, "There's still plenty left for you to do."

For some reason, the knowledge that there were still things to get done in the bunker brought me comfort. "We need to secure the location before we run for supplies." I paused at the expression that crossed his face. "What is it?"

"I don't mind ducking here for a few days, securing it… but…" He scraped his booted foot on the floor, "There's still so much to do out there. I know that you can't come with me to the Prydwen, but…"

I put my hand up to stop him, and then led my palm come to his shoulder, "I will follow you to the edge of the Earth to help you on your mission. I know things happened in the Institute that you haven't told me about – I'm ready when you are to head out."

Quinn sighed in relief, as though he were afraid that my answer might have changed. "I know that Maxon had some new mission for me to carry out. Maybe after I get it, we can sneak you in to help me finish it up. As long as it's not at the airport or any other station, it should be all right." I could tell that he'd been thinking this over for a while now. The knowledge that he was stressing about my safety made me give pause.

"What mission did Maxon have for you?" I tried to change the subject. I didn't like that he was worried – I was supposed to be a leader, and Quinn's fear for my safety made me feel as though I was falling short. He smiled at me though, shrugging.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you. It took everything that I had not to punch him in his smug face when he promoted me to Paladin." I bit my tongue – I knew that it was hard for him to accept Elder Maxon's orders, but my belief that the Brotherhood was the answer to the Commonwealth's issues still stood strong. "So, when he ordered me to go and get my next mission, I did the exact opposite. I went to your room, gathered your belongings and your power armor, and I came right back here." I could see that Quinn was contemplating things that he wasn't ready to say aloud, and I couldn't stay that I was comfortable with it. I didn't want him to raise plans against Maxon – it wouldn't end well for anyone. I just wanted to carry on with our mission to protect the people of the Commonwealth, even if I was going to have to find a new role in it all.

"You should check in with them as soon as you're able. Maxon won't appreciate being made to wait."

"Good, that bastard deserves it."

"Quinn!"

"Hey, you're not going to scold me into forgiving the bastard. You're a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, and you've served in more missions to further their cause and prove your loyalty than any soldier I've seen in my service." Quinn's teeth flashed as he grimaced at his own thoughts. "Maxon's wrong. You're wrong, Danse. You can't put everything into one box." It seemed like he wanted to say more, but it took a deep breath and shook his head.

It was probably for the best that he didn't. I knew that Quinn could be headstrong, and I didn't want to worry about his changing ideas and beliefs at the moment. Instead, I watched him smile. "Don't worry, Danse. Everything will work itself out." The way that he said it, it was almost like he'd already made plans on how that would happen.

I couldn't say that I liked it, but at the same time… there was a small part of me that felt hope at his conviction. Maybe he was right. Maybe we could figure out a way to make things work out after all.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I'm really glad that you guys are enjoying this. Please, leave a review if you are so I can know to keep going. Until then, I'll keep up with my drabblely ways. Onward to eventually taking down Maxon!**

 **Part Six**

 **POV – Quinn**

I'd been keeping myself busy since I'd woken up. For a while, I'd done that by looking at Danse. Though we'd bunked in the same room dozens of times, we'd never been so close. His arms were tight around me, and I could feel his warm breath against my cheek. His bare chest rose and fell with each breath that he drew in… and I found myself questioning everything that the Brotherhood had been trying to pound into my head since joining up. Danse was amongst those who had been trying to convince me – I'd met enough synths on my travels that I'd already wondered if they were wrong… but the man before me was living proof that the ideas of the Brotherhood weren't…

They weren't right.

Though I believed that the Gen 1 and 2 synths who were programmed simply to assault people needed to be removed from the public, I couldn't think that people – they were people – like Danse deserved the same fate. Even Nick Valentine, who hardly looked human, deserved better than some kind of crazed eradication mission. He was a decent man, and he'd helped me on my hunt for my son…

And Danse…

I'd stared at him for what seemed a long time, and I watched the rise and fall of his chest. I saw his expression change as dreams flitted through his mind. He's frowned, he'd smiled, and he'd looked both peaceful and worried. If he was just a piece of technology, a machine… then why was he dreaming? No, Maxon was wrong.

The Brotherhood was wrong.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to simply come out and say that to Danse. He breathed Brotherhood, and even after being ousted from their ranks, he wasn't going to change that mentality overnight. I could only hope that we would be able to change his mind – both of us, working together. Until then, I'd work on a plan B, even if he didn't enjoy it… I'd simply have to make sure that he didn't know about it.

The Railroad had offered me a position amongst their ranks after I'd taken the chip to them to be decoded. The Railroad… whose own ideas were completely skewed. The entire Commonwealth seemed full of people who could only see their own point of view. Something needed to change, and I didn't know how to bring that change into fruition… but I did know that the Railroad cared about synths. I would keep them friendly, if only so that I could have a backup plan to keep Danse safe if I had to.

The world needed people like the Brotherhood… but even they needed a wakeup call – not all synths were corrupt, nor ghouls, or even super mutants. Something had to change, and I was going to figure out a way to make that happen.

When I couldn't be alone with my thoughts and the sight of the man in front of me, I slowly spilled out of bed. Working in the military, and then on this wasteland of a world, I'd learned that stealth was a number one priority. It kept one alive when all else would have failed… and I used it now to leave Danse alone in the bed. I knew that he hadn't slept in quite some time – I could see it by the circles under his eyes. If I could do anything to help him, I was certainly going to try. I'd cleaned up the room as best I could, finding another Stimpak in the process, repaired the damage that I knew how of the robots, and then started to work on his power armor. The wound on my stomach was a small ache, but sleep, multiple Stimpaks, and the glue seemed to be doing their job, because I could function without having to stop for breaks.

The suit was a dull gray, and I wanted to do something to make it nicer. I knew that Danse was probably going to wake soon, and I always enjoyed his reaction when I was working on power armor. I'd always been complimented, or praised, and I could see a light in his eyes.

I wanted to see that light again. Also, I had the hope that he wouldn't be so furious for my being up and about if I was shirtless and working on his armor when he woke.

I was, of course, correct in that assumption. We spent the better part of the morning cleaning up the bunker – the body parts from our fight were laid outside. The turrets weren't repairable, but the robots were. I made a mental note to grab the materials from Sanctuary Hills that would help me to build new turrets. Maxon had given me his word, but I still wanted this place fortified to survive the next Nuclear Fallout if I had to. We weren't going to hide here forever, but having a plan B was always important.

It was only after we'd gotten the front room cleared and straightened that I finally had to sit down. Sweat had formed on my brow, and I could see that Danse was feeling the same effect. He was so used to doing everything in his power armor… and I couldn't help but to wonder how much harder it was on him since he'd kept the suit off.

"We should make a run for Diamond City soon. I usually don't approve of traveling by night, but…" I frowned and shrugged. He looked at me, and I could see the haunting echo of pain in his eyes. I smiled. "Don't worry, we'll get everything sorted to rights soon. For now, we don't want to take a chance. I need to talk to Piper anyway," the thought of her getting ahold of Danse's story and making it public caused me to shudder. Everyone in the City – and a lot of people in the Commonwealth in general, wouldn't be so welcome of my Paladin if that happened. I could only hope that I got to her before word spread.

I honestly wouldn't put it past Maxon to accidentally let the information slip, if only to further his cause of Danse being public enemy number one.

All of these thoughts flew through my mind so quickly, and I wondered if Danse could read the worry on my face. If he did, he didn't say anything. Instead, he stood and moved to his power armor. Donning the suit, he did something that I hadn't seen him do in a long while. He pulled the glossy black helmet over his head, hiding his face from me. I was reminded of the strong, brave man that I'd seen when we'd first met at the Police Station. I hadn't seen his face then, either, but I'd been compelled to help him. Compelled by a voice over the radio that had called to me.

I was compelled again. I moved forward, putting my hand against the cool metal of the power armor. "The trip to Diamond City shouldn't take too long. We'll stock up on supplies and then figure out our next move."

"Good plan, soldier." His voice held that mechanical tone that the armors helmet gave him, and I felt my heart ache just a bit. He was hiding – he was hiding from the people that he had once considered to be his only family. The best that I could do was to keep him close, and make sure that we made it to Diamond City and back in one piece. After that, maybe I'd make my way to the Prydwen, to see what mission Maxon had wanted me to take. He'd told me to talk to Kells, but I wasn't going to take his orders. Just hearing the murmurs of people talking about Danse were enough to set my teeth on edge. I still wasn't sure that I was ready to return, but nothing was going to change if I avoided the Brotherhood forever. I needed to talk to people like Haylen, Rhys, anyone who had been on a squad with Danse.

I needed to know if anyone still supported their fallen comrade, or if they were all blinded by the same hatred that had nearly caused Danse to let his own life be taken.

There was so much on my mind – more than was safe to take out into the darkness with me. When I was out there, I needed to be on attention. Predators and raiders, super mutants… that had to be the priority. I walked past Danse to our newly organized room. My guns were spilled across a dresser that we'd found, and I started to lock and load. The weight of the pistols at my hips, along my back, on my upper thighs…. It was a comfort to me. I pulled out my glow sighted 10mm and sighed softly. We were going to get through this – I was going to find a way to make sure that we did. I came into the other room and smiled at the tank that was Danse. "You ready to go?"

"Ready when you are, soldier." I wanted to imagine that he was smiling at me behind that helmet, but I couldn't tell. There was a bitter taste on the back of my tongue that he had to wear that damn helmet to begin with. Knowing that I wouldn't see his face, or those light brown eyes, for the next day and some change was enough to put me in a sour mood. Pulling on my armor over my Brotherhood of Steel uniform, I nodded. "Let's head out then."

Travel in the Commonwealth was never safe. We ran into a group of raiders, a pack of wild dogs, and a molerat infestation before we made it to the edges of Diamond City. We'd also been forced to duck for cover twice at the sound of a Vertibird approaching. Each time we did, I heard Danse's ragged breath spilling through the communication unit of the Power Armor, before he quickly cut the mic. I pretended that I hadn't heard, if only to appease him.

It was nearing dawn by the time that we entered the city, which was fine by me. The shopping that I needed to get done would be better carried out in the day. With only security roaming the streets, I slipped into Piper's house without being stopped. I could feel Danse giving me a hard look, even behind his power armor. He wasn't the biggest fan of Piper – perhaps because I'd spent a bit of time with her… or maybe because she'd said a few off colored things about the Brotherhood. Whatever the reason, it wasn't the time to be worried about those petty differences. I needed to do all of the work that I could to make sure that Danse was safe.

"Woah, Blue. What are you doing, barging in here with that tin can so early in the morning?" Piper was sitting on her couch, a pen and paper in her hand. I actually let out a small laugh, pulling my sunglasses up so that I could get a look at her face. She clearly saw something in my expression. Instantly, she stood, coming to me. "I can smell a story from a mile away – what's going on, Blue?"

I was thankful to hear that there was more than just curiosity in her voice. The concern was laced in. My eyes swept around – Nat was asleep in the corner. My voice lowered. "Listen, Piper. I need your help. You have to promise me that you aren't going to take what I'm telling you straight to print."

"Are you sure this is the best decision, Quinn?" Danse's voice was still mechanical from behind me, and I didn't bother to look back.

"What, afraid that the news is going to put your little Brotherhood on the steamers? I know about the things that you do, Danse, and I-"

"Piper, not now." My voice was a soft plea, and she turned back to look at me. Her eyes widened at my expression, and I knew that she could see the desperation in my gaze. She nodded.

"It won't go to print, Blue. I promise. How can I help you?" And I could tell by her expression that I could trust her. If nothing else, Piper was a loyal friend… probably because she didn't have that many friends to be loyal to.

"The Brotherhood of Steel made a discovery the other day with information that I retrieved from the Institute."

"The Institute! Woah! You've been there? Blue, come on. You can't tell me that I can't write about-"

I held up my hand to quiet her. "I'll give you a full exclusive on them later. I don't care what you write about them. My problem isn't that…" My gaze shifted backward, and I could still feel his eyes boring into me. "It's Danse. The information that I turned up… well…"

"What?" She leaned forward, but I could see her eyes widening. Piper was no fool. "No… no way."

"He's a synth." I finished the thought that she had clearly already followed. Her mouth dropped open, and then I saw a small smile spread her lips.

"Guess that his metal family isn't so accepting now, are they?" As though she instantly realized the cruelty of what she said, she paused. "How can I help?"

"I don't know if Maxon is going to try to spread the word. I only just managed to talk him into sparing Danse's life. You know how the Commonwealth is. They aren't as… kind about synths as some of us." I moved to sit on the couch, and my head fell into my hands before I could stop it. My fingers ran through my hair, mussing it. I already felt exhausted, and it wasn't from my traveling. "I want you to run interference if you have to – and make sure that any story about Danse isn't put into the papers. I need to keep him safe until I can figure something out."

For a moment, there was silence. I could hear Danse breathing, and I saw the wheels in Piper's head turning. After a second, she nodded. "I can help you out, Blue. Maybe this won't be such a bad thing." She leaned back, "Think about it – Brotherhood of Steel, not so bad after all." Her eyes turned to Danse, and for a moment, I felt hot tension between them. After a second, Piper spoke. "I'm sorry that you lost your family. Don't worry, we here at the Public Occurrence have your back."

I wished, in that moment, that I could have seen Danse's face. I knew that she'd taken him aback, because he was completely silent. After a second, I thought I saw his head incline slightly, though it was hard to tell in the power armor. His voice spilled out, and it was softer than usual.

"Thank you." Just those words were enough to give me hope – Danse could change – he had to see past what the Brotherhood had taught him. If he could accept Piper's help… well, that was a step in the right direction.

After a moment of silence, Piper started to shuffle around the room. I could tell that she was trying to break the mood. She pulled out a box of sweets. "You guys look like you just came in off the road. You can crash here for a bit if you want. Take a break, get some food. I don't know what your next plan of action is, but I bet it's better for you to travel at night… I'm assuming that's why you got here so early?"

"You don't miss a thing, Pipes." I smiled at her, and then gestured to Danse. "Why don't you take a breather from that helmet, and we'll take a small break. I'll go get some supplies in a bit when the stores open, and we can figure out what we're going to do next." Honestly, I already had a small thought.

Piper seemed to be in my head, because her voice was alight with interest as she spoke. "You should go and talk to Nick. He's been sniffing around for a new case for a while – reporters and investigators are the best people to talk to when you're looking for answers." Danse slowly made his way to the couch beside me, stepping out of his power armor. The sound of it caused Nat to startle for a moment, but the young girl settled back into sleep. "Even when you're not sure what the question is, Blue." Her voice was softer when she finished her sentence, and her eyes turned to Danse.

I could see the strain and exhaustion from the day on his face… but just seeing that face was enough to make warmth spread through me. His scent washed over me – warmth, grease from power armor, his own smell… I felt my nerves calming. We could do this – I'd made many allies while working for the Commonwealth, and it seemed that they were all too willing to return the favor.

"I'm not sure that we should ask a sy…" He trailed off at his words, and his eyes cast downward. Finally, he recovered. "What could he possibly tell us?"

"Oh, you know. If he's heard anything, if anyone has asked anything. He might even have some dirt of the Brotherhood that could help-"

"I won't go against the Brotherhood." Danse's voice was firm, and my hand actually came out to touch his shoulder.

"Even you have to admit that Maxon was wrong. We won't cause a rift in their mission, but we might need to change their prerogative a bit." I could see the way that my words affected him. It was everything inside of him, fighting with the thought of doing anything to betray the people who he still had loyalty to. Finally, he acquiesced, and I felt his shoulders slump beneath my touch. "I think that Piper meant dirt on them, something that would get us a way in to talk to Maxon, to try to reason with him."

I saw a small spark of hope in Danse's eyes. I also saw when he stamped it out quickly… and I couldn't blame him. Hope sprang eternal, but the disappointment of failed hope was a wound that kept bleeding. Instead, I saw as he let his gaze shift to my face… and I saw as peace drifted over his features.

"That's right, you can always trust me." My voice was a soft murmur, and Piper actually turned her head to pretend that she didn't hear us. She busied herself with moving upstairs, but I knew that she was still listening. The reporter in her wasn't going to miss out on any juicy gossip, and it was finally becoming clear to here as to why my attentions never seemed to waver to anyone that we met in the Commonwealth. My heart had belonged to someone else from the very beginning.

"What do you think that going to Valentine is going to prove?" His voice wasn't an accusation now, but a soft question. I knew that asking a synth for help was against his… training… but if we were going to work on this, I was also going to have to work on Danse along the way. He'd said it himself – he was starting over, this was his chance at a new life. Part of that new life needed to be a new attitude, at least about some things. I didn't think the Brotherhood was completely wrong in their vision… but somewhere along the way, they'd lost sight of it.

Maybe we could get it back, together.

"He might know if there are other synth's who have been in the Brotherhood, and maybe he can get us information on them in general. I don't know, Danse… but talking to him, finding our allies," I emphasized the word out, "It's the first step. After this, we'll go to Sanctuary Hills and get some supplies." And talk to Preston. The thought was silent. I wasn't going to overwhelm Danse with new faces and new plans immediately, but I was going to slowly introduce him to the people who I'd been helping, and who had been protecting me. Together, maybe we could keep him safe… and maybe we could find a way to make things right.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part Seven**

 **POV – Danse**

I had always been a man of action, so simply staying hidden away was something that I didn't know how to handle. Quinn had gone to fetch supplies, which included making a few different runs to gather guns and armor that we'd been collecting during our ventures together. There was always loot amongst the filth of the lands, because they were all too inclined to steal it from others. Piper had gone to ferret out information at the behest of Quinn, promising that she would make sure that no one got word of the fact that I was a…synth. I knew that after gathering supplies, Quinn was going to go and talk to Nick Valentine – just the thought of it made my stomach squirm. I'd never asked for help from a synth before, and it was odd to start now.

All of this was so odd to me.

I wasn't used to simply sitting on my hands and waiting around for someone else to do the saving. I'd certainly learned to play it cool and hold tight in certain situations – I knew when to fall back, and when to go in with stealth. But this was different. Quinn took me through the city before anyone had really woken up and put me into the house that he'd purchased here. I remember him telling me about doing it – his eyes had been excited, full of green fire. He told me that he was going to show it to me someday, though he'd mainly bought it to store supplies in when the vendors didn't have the caps for proper trades. Mainly, Quinn bought ammo and stimpaks, but occasionally he liked to make big purchases of armor, guns, modification equipment.

I couldn't say that I didn't enjoy watching him work on his equipment – I'd caught myself watching him one too many times to even try to deny it.

Still, I hadn't realized when he'd purchased the apartment that he'd gone so far as to decorate it. He'd pushed me inside quickly, dashing to the workbench. I watched as he unloaded gun after gun, armor piece after armor piece, until he was staggering under the weight of it. Usually, he had me and the strength of my power armor to help him lighten the load. I'd chided him a million times for picking up unnecessary junk… but now I could see where all of that had gone to.

The little apartment was actually quite cozy. There was a full kitchen bar, with a cooking station and a Nuka Cola machine, and a living room to the other side of it. I could catch a glimpse of his bed upstairs, and soft music was coming from a radio above me. He'd given me an almost shy smile, chuckled, and quickly left – well, as quickly as he could manage with all of the weight he was carrying. If I was lucky, he would manage to get through what he was doing without breaking something along the way. Thankfully, the shops would be opening any minute, and they were right outside of the door.

After Quinn left, there was really nothing else for me to do. Usually, when I waited at one of the settlements that he'd acquired the loyalty of over our time together, I roamed around. I didn't like to sit, or stand in confined spaces. The power armor made it hard to relax. Now, however, there was nothing else for me to do. I knew that, even if he was to finish with his trading and bartering, he still had Nick Valentine to speak to.

And even if he did manage to get through that and get back within the next hour or two, he was going to secure food, drink… and we were going to have to wait until night to move again. I'd taught him that caution was the best error that one could make – and I knew that he wasn't going to risk it. Not when my life was involved.

My heart gave a small pang, and I couldn't help but to wonder why it even did that. How much of me was human on the inside? I'd shot enough synths – but I'd never really seen a gen 3 up close. I knew that they bled, they talked, they behaved, they cried and felt just like regular humans… I was proof enough of that fact.

But did my heart really beat inside of my chest? Did it really exist to cause such pain? I shook my head – thinking like that was only going to drive me to insanity. Instead, checking to make sure that the doors were locked, I walked to the corner of the room and stepped out of my power armor. As soon as my feet hit the wooden ground, I felt how tired I was. I'd never really felt this way before; it was as though, knowing the truth about myself, I could feel my insides, I could feel everything that was wrong with me. I had no idea how long I stood there worrying – it could have been minutes or an hour, but finally I snapped myself from my thoughts.

It was all in my head, and I knew it. Instead of allowing myself to worry any longer, I turned to the stairs that led up to Quinn's bedroom. I knew that he had 'homes' in all of the settlements that we visited, but I'd never seen one that was so private – so totally and obviously Quinn's. No one could enter here without his permission. My booted feet were far too loud as I made my way up the stairs. The radio was playing music from a nightstand beside his bed – two mattresses pushed so closely together that more than one body could easily fit. The sheets were made perfectly – and hanging above the bed was a banner from the Brotherhood of Steel. I felt that pang in my chest again. Beside that, hung perfectly on the wall, was a folded American Flag. His old life and his new. There was a small part of me that wondered, as I looked at the flag hanging above the bed, if Quinn had meant to bring me here at some point.

I shook my head. There was a dresser along the wall, and I couldn't help but to sidle forward. I told myself that I was simply looking for a chance of clothing – a shower stood on a raised platform above us, and the thought of finally washing away everything that had happened over the past few days, perhaps both physically and mentally, was too tempting to ignore. I had the time, after all.

My fingers opened one drawer – I saw Quinn's blue Vaultsuit folded neatly on the top of the pile – beneath that, there were various outfits. I'd seen Quinn in most of them, and I knew that nothing there would fit me. When I opened the next drawer, a small smile quirked the corner of my lips. Another Vault Suit – Quinn had told me how he'd grabbed multiples on his various trips – and this one was larger than the other. I looked beneath it – a clean suit in my size, slacks and a shirt in my size, another Broterhood of Steel uniform in my size…

It was as though Quinn had taken painstakingly careful time to fill half of the dresser with clothing that I would be able to change into.

How long had he been planning on bringing me here? How long had he been harboring these feelings for me, and I'd been too blinded by the rules of the Brotherhood to allow myself to admit that I felt the same?

It didn't matter anymore – We had time now… time to feel these emotions, time to explore and see where they went. I didn't know what our plans were, other than that we were still going to try to help the Commonwealth. I knew that Quinn wanted to do anything that he could to set matters right for me, but I didn't know how long that was going to take.

All that I knew was that he'd made sure that I would feel just as at home as he in this little apartment that he'd purchased… and I was more grateful for it than I could possibly describe. I was so used to being alone, so used to keeping everyone at arms length, that I found it hard to know how to act around my green-eyed companion.

The things that he did, the things that he said… and even how he looked at me was so overwhelming. I wondered again if it was some flaw in my programming, if the Institute had been too foolish to program those feelings in. Whatever it was, the mind that was mine, the memories that made me who I was… they were overriding that programming – I was feeling things for Quinn that I'd never felt for another person, and I wasn't going to let that go. I would fight for these emotions with my life… because I was realizing that these emotions, the way that he made me feel, were even more important than the sense of family that the Brotherhood had provided. Quinn was a security that I knew would never turn on me.

I'd never really taken the time to imagine myself in a scenario like this – a home that I could call my own that wasn't the Prydwen, or another Brotherhood of Steel outfit. Someone to share that home with… someone who cared. I'd never seen myself caring about another person this way, allowing them so close that just the simple action of making sure that I would feel at home could make my pulse jump into my throat at the sweetness of it. Quinn was giving me a glimpse of that life – a glimpse of the life that I'd never even contemplated, just by letting me stay here. I could have stayed at Piper's home. She'd even mentioned that Quinn had the key to Kellog's house, and no one would look there. But Quinn had insisted that I come here. He'd wanted me to see this.

He wanted me to know.

I shook my head – these thoughts, these feelings were far too much for me. I needed to clear my head.

I grabbed one of the outfits from the drawer without looking and quickly made my way up to the shower. It only took me a moment to strip, and only a moment longer to dial on the water. It was a cold burst against my skin at first, ripping my breath from my chest… but it felt good to wash again the dirty that I'd accumulated during our travels. I watched the water run from me – darker, then lighter, until it was steaming hot and crystal clear. The droplets clung to my flesh, slicking my hair forward and into my face… and I could do nothing but close my eyes and enjoy the sensation of it. I'd thought about chiding Quinn for how much he'd obviously had to pay to furnish this place… but suddenly, it seemed so very worth it.

The radio blared loudly, a song that I'd heard played a thousand times over. It was only now, as I let the hot water beat over my skin, that I took the time to listen to the words.

 _"_ _I don't want to set the world on fire. I just want to start a flame in your heart. In my heart I have but one desire… and that one is you. No other will do."_

A soft chuckle escaped my throat, and I slicked my fingers through my hair, letting my muscles stretch and relax beneath the head of the shower. We'd been on the move so much that I'd hardly had time to enjoy something like this. We bathed quickly, sometimes in cool water, and we rarely wasted resources. I knew that this was purified water, and that if anyone could accommodate their people with such luxury, it would be Diamond City. They wanted to be the bright and shining mecca for everyone in the Commonwealth.

As soon as I thought about it, the resources that I was wasting, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to enjoy my shower anymore. My fingers regretfully moved to the knob, turning off the water. I jumped when I heard a soft groan from the stairs – Quinn stood there, his jaw slack, his cheeks slightly flushed.

"I hope that I didn't make you stop – I was so worried that you'd be angry that I paid for running water, but…" he gulped loudly. "I can see that you're enjoying it."

My eyes snapped quickly over his frame – there was a bit of sweat on his brow, and his jet hair was falling into his eyes. His pupils were dilated as he stared at my nude frame, and I saw the way that his gaze swept downward and over my body again and again.

"I thought you were bringing back Valentine. Or Piper?" My eyes swept below us, and I saw Quinn quickly shake his head.

"Valentine will be back late tonight – nearly early morning tomorrow. We should have time to see him before we leave the city. Piper is busy scouting out information, though we might head over there later on tonight to see what she's figured out." Quinn was stuttering over his words. I felt the hot droplets of water still sliding over my body, slipping down my chest and along the muscles planes of my stomach. I felt my prick stir between my legs, unbidden by the sight of Quinn and how much I'd been enjoying my shower. I felt something inside of me completely snap at the fact that we were here. Safe. Alone, in accommodations that Quinn had clearly meant for me to see.

The emotion was too much. My need was too strong. In a quick movement, I spilled from the shower and moved towards Quinn. When he realized that I wasn't stopping, he took two steps back, down the stairs, and barely managed to make it before I was in front of him. My arms stretched out, grabbing him and crushing him against my nude body. With a small groan of desire, I pressed my lips to his.

This was the man who brought me comfort, a sense of home… and right now, more than anything in this world… I wanted to feel a flame in my heart. I needed to feel human – I needed to feel loved.

I needed Quinn.

 **Author Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and enjoying this. It's been a pleasure to write. There are PLENTY of chapters to come - I've gotten so many ideas for what I want to do with this. Thank you again!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Part Eight**

 **POV – Quinn**

I'd never felt so anxious as when I left Danse alone in my apartment. I'd paid more caps than I was comfortable with to make sure that it was a place that he could easily rest, if I were ever to bring him here. I hadn't thought that it would be under these circumstances – but we were always traveling, always working so hard to clear our objectives. I thought that it would be a nice surprise to get us a place set up where we could rest – after all, at least half of my loot should have gone to Danse to begin with, but he refused to take a cap. There was something satisfying about knowing that I was making this place for the both of us.

Even when I'd done that, I knew what my feelings were. I'd been working with the man for months, and every time I saw him charge forward, every time he bent to take a bullet for me, every time his lips quirked into a smile… my heart gave a leap closer to the edge. He'd told me things that I was sure he hadn't spoken to anyone else about – he'd told me about his past, his childhood, his insecurities and emotions. Seeing that there was a fragile man behind the armor only made me feel for him all the more.

I hadn't admitted it to myself until Maxon had told me to hunt Danse down, but I think that I'd been in love with him for a while. I'd been in love with the man who he'd shown me he could be, when he wasn't full of the blind hatred that the Brotherhood had instilled within him. I was more in love with the man who had stood up to Maxon, showing me that he could get past the idea that all synths were abominations. I was in love with the man who I'd left, worried though he tried to hide it, in the apartment.

I made quick work of my trading, wanting to get back to him as fast as I could. I had to visit a few stashes, including Piper's house, but I came away with my pockets weighed down with caps and enough ammo and supplies that I knew we would be able to make whatever journey that we needed. I'd been saving a few special pieces of armor, a few special weapons, for a rainy day.

Since Maxon had called out Danse, there had been nothing but thunderclouds.

I actually picked up on the fact that Nick Valentine wasn't in town while trading, but I went to his agency just to make sure. His assistant let me know that he was out scoping out some new information, and that he'd be back before the sun was up.

That was perfect to me. It didn't take me more than a few minutes to beat a hasty retreat back to the apartment. I unlocked the door, trying to be quiet in case Danse was asleep again. I wouldn't blame him if he slept the whole night away – he'd been through a lot. However, I was greeted with the sound of running water. I'd paid more money than I wanted to admit for a personal water purifier, and a heater to make sure that the water would be warm. We both deserved hot showers after some of the missions that we went on… and from the steam that I could see rolling from the top platform, I could tell that Danse was doing just that. I took care to make sure that both doors were locked and then slowly crept up the stairs. I was suddenly thankful for my training in stealth. I'd never seen Danse in a shower, relaxed, in warmth and heat. Usually, when we washed, it was quick, brisk, taking turns in the small shower that the Cambridge Police Station sometimes set up. The water was frigid, and there was nothing sexy about it.

The sight that met my eyes when I made my way up the stairs, however, was. Danse was standing with his body relaxed, his eyes closed. I could see sweet cords of muscle, still strong even though he was relaxed. There was some expression across his features that I couldn't quite understand… but I could understand the half erect prick. I wished that I knew what had caused it, but for all that I could tell, it was the sensation of finally having a warm shower.

I knew that my own body was aching for a completely different reason.

He shut the water off suddenly, and I felt myself startle like a radstag in the wake of a gun firing. My eyes were wide, and I knew that I looked just a bit guilty. I didn't want him to think that I'd been spying on him, even though that was clearly _exactly_ what I'd been doing. I couldn't pull my eyes away from his gorgeous frame, however. I answered the questions that he asked me mechanically, my mind still too distracted with his completely lack of clothing… and his seemingly complete nonchalance at that fact.

Suddenly, he was charging towards me. I took two steps back, but he didn't stop – his lips were on my own, and everything inside of me seemed to spark with flame. There was something different about this kiss than the others, something so wanton and needy. I couldn't discern how it was new, but it was… and I knew that I needed this moment to happen more than I'd needed anything in my life. I felt Danse's growl against my lips, as though he could hear my thoughts. His water slicked body pressed against mine, the moisture soaking into the material of my Brotherhood uniform. In a quick motion, Danse had us back against the bed, with his body atop of my own.

This time, he didn't try to hold my hands. I was free to let my fingers hungrily trail alone his warm, moist skin. The feeling of the water beads slicking off of his flesh was nearly more than I could take. My mouth moved forward, hungry lips lapping at those droplets, from his neck, his shoulder. Every time my mouth touched his skin, he hissed as though I was a lick of flame, but his body grinding against my own let me know that I wasn't causing him harm. His manhood was hard, a solid weight against my hip, and I could feel my own body responding, until the uniform that I wore was a painful restriction for the passion that I felt. My hands found his chest, and I pushed him back from me. I saw the indignation and a moment of pain cross his features, and I had to answer it with a slow, burning grin.

"Shh." My fingers made quick work of my clothing, this time stripping my boxers with it, so that I was just as bared as Danse was. I saw his eyes do a quick sweep down my body – that usually light brown was a dark color, nearly black with need. To see that look on his face brought my breath in a quick gasp. He seemed in almost physical pain, shaking in front of me. As soon as my fingers were clear of my clothing, he was on me again, his body so much larger than mine, the sweet warmth from him now permeating my flesh, making my body arc up to feel more of his touch.

His voice came out suddenly, ragged, needy. "I need you, Quinn." Just those four words burned through me, stronger than anything that he'd said before. There was pain there, desire, confusion, and beneath that, a hurt so deep that I wanted to spend the rest of my life working to kiss it away. He was going to give me that chance now, and I knew that nothing was going to interrupt us.

"Danse, you've had me from the second you took off your damn helmet." My full lips turned up into a grin, and I spilled forward in a quick motion. Danse was willing to follow me, and I had him on his back on the bed, with my smaller frame straddling him. I knew that, to see me with my shirt off, Danse was going to see all of the scars that littered my body. From bullet holes along my chest, to the long, faint scar that crawled from my shoulderblade to my asscheek… I was baring myself to him, and his hungry eyes seemed all too willing to drink me up.

I was too focused on his body to really pay attention to the way that he stared at my own – just looking at the flat, muscled planes of his stomach, dipping to low slung, v-shaped hips… honestly, I'd never seen someone look so damn desirable than in that moment. My eyes flickered up to his, and I knew what I wanted to do. I knew what I'd been wanting to do since we met. "Do you trust me?"

There was no hesitation in his answer – just sweet, honest eyes, burning with need that he didn't seem to understand. He nodded quickly, "Absolutely."

That was what I wanted to hear.

I grinned, licking my lips. My body moved forward so that I could place a sweet kiss against his warm mouth. His tongue flicked outward, begging me to stay longer, but I had other places to me. My lips trailed down along his neck, to the sweet line of his collarbone. He squirmed as I let my teeth rake there, and I kept that spot in mind for later. My mouth was too busy, continuing in its descent. I let the tip of my tongue flick out playfully against one piqued nipple, and was rewarded with a small cry. His body flexed up, and I could feel his cock hard and firm against my bare stomach. I tried not to let that sensation distract me. Instead, I kept trailing soft licks and kisses downward, enjoying the feel of my lips against the hard muscle of his torso, and then the sweet dipped v that trailed down to his prick.

His arousal was erect before me, and I had to admit that the people at the Institute had done something very, very right. The man was gorgeous – thick, full, long enough that my insides quivered at the thought of him thrusting inside of me. We would get to that… but not just yet. Instead, I let my green hues flick up to connect with his own for just a moment. His lips were parted, his eyes liquid brown flame. I think he was going to speak, going to ask me to go on, or stop… but I had no more patience. I took him into my mouth in one long draw that pulled a growl of primal need from his chest. His fingers instantly scrambled, tangling into my hair. I drew him in as far as I could, down the back of my throat. My lips sheathed my teeth, and my tongue hungrily licked at the base of his shaft for a moment before I slowly pulled back. I wanted to make each second a drawn out thing – I wanted him to feel pleasure like he'd never felt before. When my eyes flicked up to meet his again, I expected his lids to be closed.

He was watching me though – watching with need, desire, passion, fire, and love so deep in his gaze that it caused precum to bead at the tip of my cock unbidden. Just that look was nearly enough to have me undone.

I couldn't let that happen, though. There were so many things that I wanted to do before this night was over… and we had hours. I wasn't going to sleep until I'd spoken with Nick Valentine, and then we were going to have to move. I knew that I could find a way for us to be entertained until then, and I could only hope that Danse had the same thoughts in mind. From the way that he was looking at me, his muscles trembling with desire, I had a feeling that he'd agree.

My head ducked down again, and this time I took him into my mouth without hesitation, without drawing it out. I swallowed him down like my first taste of pure water in the wasteland… and honestly, it was almost as though he was. I hadn't felt emotions like this since my life before – before Nora, of course. I hadn't felt anything like this in so long that my body was aching for it with an intensity that I hadn't anticipated. It was as though everything had spiraled down to this fine point, this one moment. I thought I'd lost everything, but I'd really been set on the path to find what I'd been missing.

I couldn't voice these emotions right now – they flew through my head with such speed that I could hardly understand them myself. They were chased away quickly by the passion and lust that was flooding my senses, demanding my full attention. Danse's hand on my hair tightened, his body flexing up automatically against my movements, so that I was forced to swallow him down even harder than I'd meant to.

I didn't mind. Feeling him so anxious, so ready for this? It was exactly what I'd wanted. My tongue spiraled a circle around the head of his prick for a moment, tasting the sweetness of his precum, and then I took him again.

I could feel it as his breathing started to speed – I could feel it as the trembling in his muscles spilled to every part of his body, so that my hands on his hips were nearly thrumming with the way that his frame was rocking. It was heady, the sensation of him between my lips – it was everything that I'd wanted, and more than I could have ever fantasized about. Each breathed gasp from him let me know that he was chasing the edge of that shining like of pleasure, and I tried to pull my head back so that I could stop before we'd gone too far.

Danse was having none of it. His fingers spilled to the back of my head and he thrust up one more time, his entire length spilling down my throat. I swallowed reflexively, feeling a hot spill of his pleasure as it washed along the back of my tongue, down my throat. It was sweeter than anything that I'd ever tasted. My eyes actually fluttered shut, and my head bobbed again of its own accord, milking him for all of that sweet nectar that he had. It was only as the last droplet spilled onto my tongue that I pulled back.

I could feel my lips swollen, my hair falling into my face. I looked up the long length of Danse's body, and I could see his chest rising and falling quickly – I could almost see his heart hammering in his ribs. He looked at me, and a soft, sexy smile spilled across his lips.

"I was going to stop so that we could keep going, you know." I muttered the words, but I knew that my voice didn't sound half as grumpy as I'd like. Danse just chuckled, glancing down between us. The erection that he had… wasn't going down. I looked back up, and he arched one brow. "Oh." My entire body felt warm – he was still ready and willing. This night… this night was going to go even better than I'd thought.

I could see that Danse's passion was the only thing chasing away the usual nervousness that came to him when we flirted. He gave me an almost shy smile and shrugged. "Ad Victoriam."

I couldn't believe he'd just said that. Laughter actually spilled from my throat, and I crawled up his body – my own erection was aching for relief, and I had a feeling that he was more than ready to give that to me. I could see the blush staining his cheeks now, and I could still feel the small tremble in his body that let me know this experience meant something to him… something more than even I could begin to fathom.

His arms spilled around me, and he pulled me tight to him. When we kissed, the sweet tango f his lips in tandem with his sweet juice mixed on my tongue and caused me to moan into his mouth. "Danse…" My voice was soft, nearly hoarse. The laughter from just a moment ago had already faded away. "I want you…"

"You have me." His answer was automatic, his lips sweetly kissing along my jawline. I moaned again, and ground myself down against him.

"I want you to have me, exactly as you'd like." I rolled off of him, though his fingers tried to pull me close. Laying on the bed beside him, I propped myself up on my elbows, and I licked my lips again. This… what I was about to ask, was what I'd always dreamed, always needed. This, I think, was what he needed to. He wanted me? He needed me? "I'm yours, Danse… so do whatever you want with me." His sweet brown eyes darkened again, and I could see thought shift through his eyes. He leaned close to me, kissing the bare expanse of my shoulder. That ghost of a touch caused me to shiver, and my body arched up in reaction. That feral look that had spilled through his eyes when he charged me to the bed was back, and his fingers tickled down my spine.

 _Oh, God._ I'd been waiting for this for so long… and now, finally… I was going to have him – my tease from before seemed to spark the fire that I desired, and Danse seemed all too ready to burn me from the inside out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Part Nine**

 **POV – Danse**

I'd had sex before, but I'd never made love. I'd certainly fucked, but I'd never felt this kind of emotional attachment to a person who I was with. Sex had always been just like the other basic human needs – it was to be done and then you carried on after. I'd never really thought about looking at it in the way that it was being presented to me now. Quinn laid on his stomach, his green eyes sparking need and mischief like a gunfight. I could see the perfect musculature of his back, all strength and scars, curving down to a sweet dip before spilling back up to a very taut yet plump backside.

Just looking at him, laying there like some kind of offering to my carnal needs was nearly enough to rip all control from my mind. I'd never wanted anything so badly – I'd never _needed_ anything the way that I needed Quinn in that moment. There was no other word for it. I felt as though I would literally rip apart if I didn't have him then… just stopping to stare at his nude body was licking flames along my senses. I needed to touch him.

My fingers came out again, trailing along the line of his spine. I knew about some of his scars, but some of them were still a mystery to me. He mainly managed to keep them to his back and torso – there were a few on his legs, and light scars that had healed to the point that they were barely visible on his visage. I wanted to touch each faint line though, to run my lips along them – I wanted to taste every inch of him. Instead, I leaned slowly over him, letting my tongue come out in a hot wet line at the base of his spine. His entire body rocked up to meet my touch, and I swept downward, so that the tip of my tongue pulled away just as his ass curved upward. I could see a faint tremble of need rocking through his entire frame. When he looked at me over his shoulder, his eyes were scorching. I could see a faint line on his lower lip where he'd bit into it. For some reason, the sight of that was sexier than anything I'd witnessed before. Perhaps it was because I knew that he'd done it because of me. Whatever the reason, I raised myself up on my arms and half crawled forward to catch his lips. He offered his mouth up to me with no resistance, his pout parting, his tongue sweetly swirling against my own for a moment in time.

After a second, I broke from the kiss. I loved Quinn's lips – I probably could have stayed at them for hours… but there was so much of his body left to explore, and I wasn't going to waste the moment. I'd learned that everything changed – everything changed at the blink of an eye. For all I knew, I would never have this opportunity again… and right now, I had the heady bravery and strength to be as bold as I'd always wanted to be.

Who knew if I would be able to keep that feeling for long?

Thrusting logical thought from my mind, I moved back down. My fingers ghosted along Quinn's ribs, raising goosebumps along his body. When I came to the curve of his hip, his body ground downward. He made a small, moaning sound as my fingers massaged there, holding against his pelvis. It seemed to be doing something wild to him, and I would have been lying if I said I didn't enjoy the reaction.

I took a few more seconds to enjoy watching his hips work, his ass clench as he ground against the bed… but far too soon, I found myself envious of the sheets. I let my hands move, this time trailing further down, along his upper thighs, before sweeping over so that the pads of my fingers danced across his bare cheeks, as though I was in some forbidden zone that I was barely allowed to touch. I wanted to do so much more than to simply touch him…

"Danse…" His voice was a soft, inviting gasp. I could tell that he was frustrated with the way that I was teasing at his flesh, but I wasn't going to speed up my discovery. I'd wanted this for longer than I was willing to admit, and now that I was able to touch Quinn, I was going to enjoy every moment of it.

He let my name ache out from his lips again, and I let my larger frame lean over him – hands stayed placed on the sweet mound of his ass, but my upper body spilled forward to caress against his back. My lips found his neck, and I let my mouth work there for a moment, playing havoc with Quinn's nerves until he was making soft sounds in a nearly constant stream. Each time I touched the soft patch of skin just below his ear, he bucked his body up, as though he could force me to take him then and there. With every touch to Quinn's body, I was learning a roadmap to his pleasure, and I was committing it to memory. I wanted a thousand touches after this, and if I knew exactly what parts of his body made him cry litanies of need, it was all the better.

However, with each little moan that spilled from his lips, each writhe of his soft, warm body beneath my own, I found my self-control spilling further and further away. There was a sweet, hot line of need drawing tighter and tighter between us, and I could feel the tension of that cord. It was going to snap soon, and I wasn't sure as to how much sanity I would have once it did. I wanted to at least make sure that Quinn's body was completely ready for me by the time that I lost myself to the cries that he continued to give.

My fingers played soft against his cheeks for another moment – it was hard for me to think logically at all, but I knew that I needed to try. I wanted this experience to be something that he would remember always, that he would ache for always, that he would want over and over again. Quinn made me feel like I was truly a man, and not just some machine… I didn't want him to change his mind.

My arousal was still slickened with my own seed and Quinn's saliva, but I didn't trust that to be enough. My fingers spilled between my own lips for a moment, and I gave a hard suck. It was sweet pleasure, because I could taste the flavor of Quinn's skin where I'd been touching him. It made my mouth water, which wetted my fingers all the more. I sucked for another few moments, and when I pulled my digits from between my lips, thick, wet lines of saliva trailed after them.

 _Perfect._

My hand trailed down between us, this time spilling past Quinn's cheeks to find the tightness of his very core. Just pressing against it made him buck beneath me, and it caused my own body to tense with need. He arched his body back, pressing that entrance against my fingers – the moisture from my saliva helped my digits to easily slick, one at a time, inside of him. I pushed past a tight ring of muscle… and then there was nothing but his warmth. I moved with a slow, steady ease… and though I heard a moment of whimpered discomfort, that sound was quickly replaced with a gasp need as my fingers delved deeper. Quinn, aching, sweet Quinn, was more than ready for me.

Of course, the girth of my arousal was a bit more invasive than two fingers. But… I would ease him into it. I would ease us both into it – I felt as though I was going to fly from my very senses with how much I wanted the younger man beneath me. All of the rigid, self-controlled distance that the Brotherhood had taught me was melting away. There was no formality, no sense of chain of command. There was only Quinn beneath me, and a need so great inside of my body that I knew I could ignore it no longer.

"Danse, _please!_ " Quinn's voice burned through me, and I felt that tense cord snap – I felt myself fly over the edge.

My fingers pulled slowly from his body, and I moved myself. I propped my body up with one arm, and then other came around Quinn's chest. I pulled the younger man up so that I could feel the warm, hot line of his back against my frame. My legs moved, kicking his own slightly apart… and then my hips were pushing forward. There was more resistance when the head of my length pressed against that tight hole, but there was no sound of pain. Quinn was groaning, his body rocking – it was only my hand against his chest that kept him steady as I spilled my hips forward. It was slow, sweet, hot, one inch at a time. The wetness of my prick from Quinn's mouth in tandem with my own saliva from my earlier penetration was enough to let my length slide slowly inside of him. When I was completely sheathed, I could feel both of our bodies trembling in time with one another. I'd never felt anything so amazing – so warm, tight, sweet. My breath was a ragged gasp, and I could hear Quinn panting in need beneath me.

I took my time, though. I wanted to wait, I wanted to give him a few moments to adjust to the length of me inside of him. Though my body was burning with need, and though I felt like some kind of animal finally let out of captivity, I wasn't going to hurt him. I could hear my heart thundering in my ears, I could feel each tight breath that I took… and worse, I could feel Quinn doing the same – each move that he made was sweet, pleasurable torture. I wanted to move so badly, to thrust, to rock and work until I claimed every inch of him as my own… and it seemed as though he wanted the same from me.

" _Danse…_ " It was Quinn who moved first – his fingers gripped tight in the sheet, until he nearly ripped it from the bedframe, and his hips bucked up, arching against me so that my prick ground hard against his core, my hips flexing against the pillows of his ass. I hissed out a vocalization of my desire, lost to the sudden need that engulfed me like a flame.

I couldn't hold back any longer.

My hand gripped him tight against my chest, my other flexing with our combined weight against the bedframe. I could see that Quinn held tight to my arm with one hand, and his other was propped to hold us up as well.

Hungry fingers roamed over his chest, feeling each muscle, each slick sensation of scar… and my hips began to rock. I pulled out of him slowly, and then just as slowly spilled my length back into his very center. The sound that spilled from Quinn's throat – from my _lovers_ throat – was enough to make me growl out in answer. My eyes closed tight for a moment, and I let my body work. Hips flexed, and I could hear the sweet slide of our bodies rocking against each other over and over again. Quinn's hips moved in perfect tandem with my movement, as though he'd been practicing for this very moment, watching my movement so that he knew exactly how my body would behave in this situation. I could feel the tightness of his body clenching around me – it was a sweet, heady sensation that made strangled sounds of lust spill from me.

My hand roamed his chest, spilling down to his torso. Slickness was there in sweet droplets, where his cock had touched against his skin. It only took me a second to find the length of him, and only a second longer to let my thumb brush against the slit of his erection. Sweet bubbles of pre-cum spilled already; my thumb slid downward, slicking that moisture along the length of his shaft, so that when my fingers looped around his length and gave a pump, there was slickened friction to draw a cry of pure satisfaction and need from his throat.

I could see the way that his shoulders tensed, the way that every muscle in his body seemed to be rocking and shaking with the need that was burning through his body. There was something poetic about the way that Quinn moved when in the grips of passion. Every fiber of his being seemed to channel into expressing how he felt through the movements of his body, through the way that he worked and rocked himself against me. I wondered, how sweet was his face, right now? Did his eyes burn?

I needed to see him.

My hips gave one more thrust, and then I pulled myself from him completely. I heard him give a wild little whimper of protest, but my hands found his hips before he had too much time to fall into despair. I could feel the strength in my body working, a mixture of need and desire making it easy to flip him over. He was laying beneath me then, and I could see the length of him spilling up towards his stomach – that thickness dripping liquid evidence of his pleasure. It only made me want him all the more. Later… later I would taste that length. But for now, there was only one thing I could do.

He let out a small moaned whimper of need, but I was already moving. One hand came forward to spill beneath his leg – I pulled his body up until my hips could thrust forward again. I found his entrance, still sweetly parted and waiting for me. That tight warmth welcomed me back with no protest. My other hand spilled forward, gripping the length of him again. This time though… this time I could see the way that his lips parted, the way that his eyes flared wide before clenching tight shut. Those green depths were burning, swirling with need and pleasure until I nearly fell forward into them. My body began to rock and move again, my fingers finding the same rhythm as my hips until I was working perfectly against him.

Quinn's hands came up, covering his face for a moment – I could hear the sounds spilling from his throat coming faster and faster. He dared to peek through his fingers, and I could see those hues licking like flame. His pupils were dilated, and I wondered if he could really see me, or if he was lost to his passion. Just the sight of him – the tension in his body, the way that it sang through every corded muscle of his frame was nearly my undoing. I held back though, actually biting my lower lip to keep myself from spilling headlong into the sensation that was building up inside of me.

I wanted Quinn's release first. I would have it before I spilled into my own.

My fingers worked harder, my hips still thrusting my length deep inside of him, so that I could see his body rock upward with every pivot. Quinn's hands were moving now, scrambling at the sheets, at his own body, trying to find sweet purchase to hold himself down – I could tell that sweet desire and need was slowly filling him up, drop by drop, and that soon he would burst like some ripe fruit. Even his prick was darkening, as though warning me of the sensation that was about to come.

Suddenly, his eyes flew wide, and his hands found the purchase that they'd needed. His body arched upward, and his fingers gripped me, my arms, holding. I could feel his digits dig into my flesh… and then there was something else. A scream spilled from his throat, and I think that scream was my name.

His body pulsed, his core clenching tight around me. A hot spatter of Quinn's seed burst out, with such strength that it hit against my torso. Another sweet pulse around my cock, and another burst… and then I heard another scream.

It took me a moment to realize that it was my own.

My body found release in a hot, sharp burst of pleasure that left me feeling like every nerve in my frame was suddenly and truly alive for the first time.

The desire took me completely, wiping out my senses like a nuke decimating an entire city. There was nothing left of me for a moment – nothing but the aching, sweet tension of Quinn's body clenching around my cock over and over again, milking every last droplet of cum from me. His body was one huge tremble, one pulse of heady orgasm after another – the jet of his own seed spilled up one last time, sticky sweet against the planes of his abdomen. I could see his eyes closed tight, sweat on his brow. My own body was dripping with perspiration – and I could only just keep myself held up as wave after wave of spine-tingling sensation spilled through me, until it finally drew his name from my throat in a ragged cry that sent me spilling forward against him.

I managed to roll slightly, so that my head was against his chest, so that my larger frame didn't crush his own completely. Pulling my length from his core was a torture – I wanted to stay buried in that warmth forever. Here, I could forget. Here, I could simply be a man in love with another, engulfed in desire and lust for the rest of my existence. Quinn's arms came up around me, his fingers moving to play sweet in my wet hair. We laid like that until the trembling and ripples of sensation slowly subsided, and there was nothing left but sweet warmth and the afterglow of true completion lingering around us.

"My God, Danse… I love you." Quinn's voice was achingly soft, a sweet confession and revelation that seemed to take him by surprise. I understood – I knew that I'd loved him before, but after this… after this sweet connection between our bodies, our very essence? I'd never felt something like this before.

"I love you, too." My voice was soft, hoarse. Things were so… right. I realized something then – perhaps, just perhaps… Maxon was wrong. I was not a machine – these feelings, these emotions… what I felt right now couldn't simply be something programmed into my mainframe. It was impossible. This was love, this was need. It was a visceral thing that poured through the nerves and send the mind spinning until there was nothing left but the touch of your lover and the taste of their lips against your own… and it was an all too human emotion that had me in the sweet grips of Quinn's body. I could feel my heart thundering in my chest, and I could still feel little jolts of electrical satisfaction pouring through my frame every time Quinn twitched to adjust himself against me. Just our bodies pressed against one another sent sweet endorphins and waves of pleasure through my senses.

No, this wasn't corrupt programming. This was love.

I knew that I was in trouble – I knew that everything that I believed was being challenged… but at that moment, I couldn't worry about it. At that moment, there were more important things to do. My fingers spilled up, gripping Quinn by the shoulders. It wasn't hard to slide our slickened bodies together until I could find his lips. For now, for this moment… I just wanted to be lost in Quinn's kiss.

He seemed all too happy to oblige.


	10. Chapter 10

Summary: Just a short chapter this time, but with some important interactions 3. There's going to be some major turns for the story within the next few chapters to come! Thank you to everyone who has been reading this, and for your feedback! You've been amazing!

 **Part Ten**

 **POV - Quinn**

I could have stayed in bed for the rest of the day... probably the rest of the week. Honestly, I could have stayed there for the rest of our lives, and it wouldn't have been upsetting. There was something so sweet about the tenderness, the way that Danse held me. His arms were tight around me, and if I started to move away, he pulled me close again. It had instigated more than one repeat performance of our activities, and I wasn't about to complain.

He was amazing.

He held me like I was some new discovery, something that he'd never thought to see or experience. His soft brown eyes continued to rake over my frame as though he was drunk on my very appearance. When I wasn't looking, he would kiss tenderly at my neck, the soft spot below my ear that made my entire body tingle in a hot line of sensation.

Already, he was learning the ins and outs of my body in a proficient fashion, as though I were a new set of power armor, or a gun that he needed to learn the complete functions of. I didn't mind at all...

A knock on the door, however, pulled us from our embrace. I actually heard a curse spill from Danse's lips, and I sighed in tandem with his exclamation. I hadn't thought that so much time had passed, but Nick's voice called through the door, letting me know that our scheduled meeting was on.

I leaned across Danse, giving him a quick, warm kiss - it was meant to be quick, at least. His arms wrapped around me, dragging my smaller frame across his own so that he held me tight to his chest. His mouth slid over mine again and again, tongue tasting my own... and I felt a low moan spill from my lips of its own volition. I actually had to pull back with a heated laugh; and the expression on Danse's face was perfect.

He was pouting.

I don't think he realized he was doing it, but he was. His full lower lip was sticking out, and his brows were furrowed. It was such a sweet, vulnerable expression. I'd never seen him put down his professionalism enough to show me something so...

Well...

Cute.

"We'll get back to this soon, I promise. But we can't keep visitors waiting!" I let the words chirrup out, and I saw the smile spread his features. Standing, I opened the drawer and pulled out a fresh outfit - a Vault Suit. Comfortable enough for me to answer the door in. With a sly grin, I tossed Danse one as well. He gave me a confused look, but spilled out of bed to pull the blue suit on.

I found myself very distracted by exactly how fantastic the material formed to his skin. A low groan threatened to escape me yet again, but I managed to hold it in.

He was the one grinning now, and it made a small sting cross my cheeks that he'd clearly noticed the effect he had on me.

"Just a second, Nick!" I called the words out to break the silence, and then trotted down the stairs. The sound of Danse following close behind me was a sweet comfort. At least for this moment, we were exactly what I'd always wanted us to be - two men, just relaxing, loving one another... I knew that when we opened the door and began speaking to Nick Valentine, we were going to have to go back to the realities of the Commonwealth, the realities that the Brotherhood of Steel had forced upon us.

I was going to have to go back to finding a way to fix things for my lover... his heart, no matter how happy at the moment, would never be content with the way things were. He bled Steel, and I was going to find a way to bring him back to his home.

Maxon needed to be reasoned with. The Brotherhood had such potential to help the Commonwealth, but not under such a totalitarian leader. I sighed, and I could almost feel Danse tense behind me; he could see the stress settling back onto my shoulders like a power armor frame.

"Quinn..." I turned quickly, flashing him a smile.

"Don't worry about it. We've got this." I put confidence into my voice, making sure that it sounded like I believed it. I wanted to believe it. I had to believe it.

"Nick," I opened the door with a smile. The synth who stood before me was one of the first individuals who had helped me in the Commonwealth. He had more compassion than many of the humans that I'd run into - and when he'd learned about my son, he'd been more than willing to help me in any way that he could. I actually stepped forward, shaking his head before stepping aside to let him in.

After closing the door, I was aware of the awkward silence that spilled through Home Plate. It wasn't at fault of Nick - but Danse... Danse who stood, his hands clasped behind his back. I could see something spilling over his body, and his eyes continued to flicker up to Nick. Finally, the silence was broken.

"So, I heard you joined the Synth Club." Nick's voice was casual, slightly full of teasing, but there was the compassion there that I was used to. He and Danse had never really seen eye to eye before - and I knew that it was from the prejudice that Maxon had bred into Danse. "Sorry I don't have a jacket, but..." Nick's golden eyes flashed to light brown hues. "It's nice to have you aboard."

Danse stood silent for a moment, and I wondered how he was going to respond. I knew that he was still loyal to the Brotherhood, but I wondered if his own status was going to change his opinion on Synths, even if it was a slow process.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Danse spoke. "I'm sorry, Valentine."

I don't think that he could have shocked either of us more if he'd peeled away his face to show some metal frame beneath. My jaw actually dropped, and Nick Valentine, smooth talker that he was… was stunned into silence.

For a moment, no one spoke. Danse seemed to feel the weight of the silence, and I could tell this his words were already weighing heavily against his mind. I knew what it must have taken him to say it – honestly, I hadn't expected anything like this from him. Not yet… not for a long while, still.

"Let's see what we can do to help you out." Nick finally filled in the silence. There was a moment where I think we both wanted to ask Danse what had prompted his apology, even though we both knew what had started it. However, the very fact that he'd apologized was so… shocking, and honestly such a huge step in the right direction that I think neither of us wanted to make him regret speaking up at all. The fact that he could realize he'd been wrong in his prior judgements… well, it gave me heart. If he could see that, then he could see that Maxon wasn't right in his rule. If there were more people like Danse in the ranks of the Brotherhood…

Well… I knew that their mission to save the Commonwealth could really be successful. There were more than humans that lived here now, and whether they wanted to admit or not, it wasn't right to have some kind of genocide on anything that wasn't up to their standards. Looking at the way that Danse managed to bring his gaze up to meet Nick's made a small smile flick across my lips.

There was hope.

I don't know if Nick understood the true importance of Danse's apology, but he was smart enough to realize that something truly significant had happened.

"How are you going to help the situation?" I could hear the reservations in the former Paladin's voice. The fact that he was willing to listen was enough to keep me cheery.

"Well, something about Maxon has never sat completely straight with me." Nick frowned, and I saw Danse mirror the frown. I knew that it was for a completely different reason. Whether he had apologized or not, listening to anything negative about Maxon wasn't going to come easy to him. "He climbed the ladder too fast - yes," Nick added when Danse looked oddly at him, "I've heard about your leader. I'm not saying that he did anything untowardly to get his job," Nick quickly added, "But... there's something there. Maybe there are others among your ranks that are like you, or at least sympathizers of synths." Nick shrugged lightly. "There's a lot of detective legwork that I can put in, and we'll see if it gets us any useful information." Nick took a step forward, and his hand came down on Danse's shoulder. It was only then that I realized Nick's slender frame was taller than my Paladin's. Danse tensed, and I wondered for a moment if his training was going to kick in. However, after a moment, he simply nodded.

"I know there are those among our ranks who will support me, at least. I've worked with dozens of them, saved their lives, and they've saved mine. I..." he paused for a moment, "I thought I was human then, but does it really change the trails that we've gone through together?" I realized that the question in Danse's voice wasn't rhetorical. He seemed to truly be asking Nick, as though the synth could suddenly give him the answers. Nick's face fell into a line of a frown, but he shrugged.

"I can't tell you what does and doesn't make you human... but I can tell you that the lives you've saved are just as saved, no matter what you were when you did it, Danse." Nick's golden eyes flickered for a moment, "You're as good of a man," he emphasized the word, "Now as you were then. Maybe my opinion doesn't count for me to you and your Brothers, but..." The synth shrugged, and gave a charming smile, "It's there nonetheless."

Danse was silent for a moment, but I could tell that he was thinking what Nick had said over. Something inside of me ached to know that Danse was questioning the validity of everything that he'd done. I could have told him, and I would tell him a million times over that he was a better man that most of the people that I'd met. He had to understand, his makeup, his... beginnings... they didn't have any effect on who he was.

And he was an amazing, caring man. I just wish he could have seen it as clearly as I did.

Danse nodded. It was a slow motion, but it was there. I smiled softly - to see him accepting Nick's words was... well, it was amazing. I stepped over, letting my fingers slip through his own. For a moment, he startled at my touch - and then I saw his face flash crimson. I knew, just as much as accepting the fact that he was still the same man, even though he'd learned of his origins... he was going to have to learn to allow affection to be shown in a public situation. He'd been so used to being my superior, someone who would never show such affection to a subordinate...

But that wasn't the case anymore. Even if he came back to the Brotherhood, I was a Paladin, just as he was. I only hoped that he wouldn't fall back in to being afraid to show me his emotions then.

For a moment, I was afraid that he was going to pull away. To my surprise, his fingers tightened around my own, and he pulled me closer to his body, so that my side was a warm line against his own. He flashed me the smallest of smiles, and it made my heart jump.

Nick looked between the two of us for a moment, and I saw a small grin flicker across his features. It was amazing, how human his face could still look - he wasn't a Gen 3 synth. He didn't have a human identity to hide behind... but I realized that I looked at Nick in the same way that I'd looked at all of my friends.

I'd never been meant for the Brotherhood as it stood now. I think that I'd just always seen the potential in it. And, of course... I'd always seen the potential in Danse. Since the moment that we'd met... I'd always known.

It was as though he could read my words through our bodies pressed together, because his fingers gave mine another squeeze. "I don't know how much information you'll be able to find out about Elder Maxon that isn't available to all members of the Brotherhood, but you're welcome to look." Danse's voice was so formal, and I knew that there was a part of him that was fighting for the honor of his Elder, even in such words. "But..." He frowned then, and I saw it crease a line between his brows, "He has changed in the past. We've always been taught that synths, ghouls, mutants..." he grimaced, "Were the scum of the Commonwealth... but he's grown-"

"Fanatic." I added the word before Danse could stop me.

He cast me a sidelong look that wasn't altogether friendly, but I didn't shirk beneath it. "Extremely opinionated about it as of late. Something may have spurred that on. Perhaps, in finding that, we can find a doorway to step through to reason with him." Danse paused, and I could see the wheels in his head turning. "I couldn't get through to him at the bunker. There was no sympathy, no hesitation." The scene at the bunker replayed in my mind – but did Danse really expect anything different? He'd come to me expecting to die, wanting to be an example.

Of course, I'd been able to get through to him. Maxon had only folded when I'd threatened to leave the Brotherhood with Danse. I don't know if it was the fact that he'd lose me, or the fact that he knew he'd have to fight me to get to Danse that had changed his mind.

"There's something there – I don't know what it is, but I'll find it for you." Nick Valentine looked at Danse, and then stuck his hand out. Tension spilled in the air, but I knew it was my own nerves.

Danse, slowly, and with a wary look on his face, took Nick's hand and shook it. I could hardly believe what I was seeing… but there it was. Paladin Danse of the Brotherhood of Steel was shaking hands with an obvious synth.

In that moment, I honestly could have hugged them both.


	11. Chapter 11

**Part Eleven**

 **POV - Danse**

We left Diamond City when the sun was still trying to make its ascent. A thick fog had settled over the buildings, and I found myself looking around at the buildings, so carefully constructed within the perimeter of the stadium. The people of the Commonwealth being forced to hide behind these walls when there were so many buildings standing perfect and strong outside was one of the reasons that I'd joined with the Brotherhood. I had wanted nothing more than to help the people of the world… and somehow, I'd lost sight of that mission in wake of a blind hatred that had been sewn into my heart.

The light of the sun was trying to penetrate and cut through the thick fog that had engulfed the area, but I could see that it was struggling. Why was everything suddenly a metaphor to me?

My eyes slinked sideways, to Quinn who walked strong beside me. He was making idle chitchat, occasionally switching the radio of his Pipboy up so that he could sing along with one of the songs that played. His mood wasn't affected by the fog, or the daunting task that was set before us. We had to make our way to Sanctuary - Quinn wanted to pick up supplies there, and see if there was anyone amongst his allies who would be willing to stand behind me, if it came to it. I knew that he was a General within the ranks of the Minute Men – I had a feeling that he was going to use that influence now.

I didn't want to start a war. I just wanted Maxon to understand that I was still… I was still me. My memories might not have all been my own, but the ones that were mine were still true. My thoughts, my beliefs, and my desire to help the people of the Commonwealth… that hadn't changed in the reveal of my true nature. He'd been too furious at my betrayal to listen before. But maybe… just maybe, he would now.

I didn't know, but Quinn seemed positive that we would find a way. All that I could do was listen to his strong, positive voice - the man was infectious, addicting. Even as we walked away from Diamond City, my body felt flush at the memories of what we'd done there.

If nothing else good came of my exile from the Brotherhood, it was the fact that I could finally look past our work relationship and the knowledge that he was my subordinate. It would have felt dirty, like taking advantage of him before… I wouldn't have wanted anyone to think that Quinn had a relationship with me only because of the power that I held over him.

Now though? He was a Paladin. He was a strong man who had taught me more than I'd ever taught him… and I wasn't going to let anything stand in the way of the emotions that he elicited from me. I realized, in that moment, that I believed in Quinn far more than I'd believed in anything else…

Even the Brotherhood.

The recognition hit me so suddenly that I actually stopped walking. I felt dazed, stunned even. I'd never thought that something would replace the dedication and loyalty that I felt to the Brotherhood of Steel and their cause - and yet, he stood there. He stood there with the fog wrapping around him like a cloak. He stood there with a smile on his face as he stopped and turned. He stood there, and the knowledge that I would fight alongside him against _any_ enemy was a soft, sweet warmth. It was a comfort that I hadn't known I needed.

"Fusion Core run down?"

I couldn't answer - for a moment, I stayed still, looking at his soft expression. I would follow this man to the ends of the Earth… and I would even follow him to stand against Maxon. It only took me a second to school my features back to neutral, and I shook my head.

"Apologies, Quinn. I have a lot on my mind."

His smile flashed bright at me, and he nudged me. "Don't worry about it, Danse. Hopefully things will get easier soon. Sanctuary isn't very far away." He turned his gaze to look towards the horizon, as though his sharp gaze could see it already – or maybe his words had a double meaning as well.

 _Sanctuary, hm_.

The light of the sun flickered through those green hues, making the bright color dazzle. My heart gave another gentle squeeze, and I pulled on the helmet of my power armor. He knew how I felt – of course he knew how I felt. But still, letting those emotions play so freely on my face was an altogether new concept. I wasn't going to lie and say that it was easy… but I knew, with time, we were going to figure it all out.

And until then, I was happy to walk at his side, knowing that our paths were forever connected.

The trek to Sanctuary shouldn't have been that difficult. Somehow, it seemed like luck simply wasn't on our side.

The first radscorpion was unfortunate.

The second was some kind of horrible prelude.

When we ran into a mated pair of deathclaws, I knew that we weren't going to have a very good day. Quinn took far more damage than I would have liked, but thankfully we were well stocked on stimpaks this time. Just as thankfully, I was in a capable suit of power armor, and I could absorb most of the damage that came hurtling his way. He laughed about it – I could see the excitement fresh in his spring-green eyes. He seemed so pleased with the heat of battle, the ability to shoot his pistols, even though his own life was often in danger.

Honestly, Quinn seemed to function in a world of adrenaline and expert marksmanship. It was easy to see that he'd been an excellent soldier before his stint in cryosleep. He moved like a well-oiled machine, ready and willing to jump at the next opportunity to prove himself. I just wondered, who had been watching his back then, if not me? Because, though Quinn was a fantastic shot, it was clear that he needed someone to stand at his side.

Of course, we all needed someone to watch our backs. I just didn't realize until I'd met Quinn that it applied to everyone. Even to a Paladin. Even to me. I'd given up thoughts on that when I'd lost Cutler – it was only Quinn who was making me realize I could believe again.

A sudden sound overhead made my pulse race. It was far off, but I could recognize the noise from anywhere. My eyes instantly scoured the expanse of land for anywhere that we could take cover.

"Danse…" Quinn's tone was apprehensive, and he was already running to the left. There was an expanse of broken buildings to our left, but I didn't know if we were going to make it in time. I could hear the thundering whir of Vertibirds approaching, and Maxon's earlier statement rang sharp in my head. They would shoot us – well, they would shoot at _me_ on sight. And Quinn? Quinn wasn't going to let them get away with it.

 _Damn it!_ Even though I could feel the muscles in my legs burning from the effort, I knew that we weren't going to make it to cover in time. The first shot from the Vertibird took me in the thigh, the sound of metal clanging against bullet sharp like a whip crack in the air. "Quinn, keep running." I turned, raising my plasma rifle. My heart was pounding, and my breath felt tight in my chest.

I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to fire against my own people. Even as hesitation washed over me like a crushing wave, another burst of fire from the minigun attached to the unit came soaring down – Quinn's shout of fury spilled from behind me, and I saw the light from his pistols spinning through the air in the direction of the Vertibird's pilot.

There was no avoiding this. There was only a moment of decision – a moment of _deciding_. Brotherhood, or Quinn.

I raised my plasma rifle and fired.

There was no hesitation in Quinn's motions. The younger man seemed furious that the people that he had called companions were firing on us. I could tell by the way he shouted, by the decisive shots that he fired… and by the way that the minigun bullets that caught him in the shoulder didn't seem to faze him, at least for the moment. I noticed every shot though – and it was the blood that spilled from Quinn's frame that gave me the drive I needed to turn my attention in full to our attackers. When I shot, I aimed for the engine core of the Vertibird. After a few moments, my shots rang true – it spiraled in the air for a moment, and then came crashing to the ground.

Of course, the Brotherhood of Steel was equipped for just such situations – the men who poured out of the Bird were in full suits of power armor. I was suddenly made completely aware of exactly how vulnerable Quinn was, standing there with bare flesh exposed and nothing but his righteous indignation to shield him.

I took a step in front of him – he had his righteous indignation and _me._

I hadn't known until this moment how I would react if put in this situation, but I knew now. I wasn't going to let anything hurt Quinn… not when he was fighting so hard just to keep me safe. The three armored suits spilled forward, and all that I could do was tell myself… these weren't my Brothers. My Brothers wouldn't attack me. They wouldn't be shouting things like _synth_ and _traitor_ in such hard, angry tones. No, these people didn't know me at all.

Instead, I focused on the feel of Quinn's back against my armored legs, his body moving in a quick motion to fire off shots as he ducked from behind me. Each landed perfectly, taking out a piece of armor, even going so far as to pierce a fusion core and force one of the Knights to step from their frame before it exploded. Two quick shots incapacitated them, sending their bodies prone. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that Quinn wasn't shooting to kill.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that he was probably doing it for my sake, and I didn't even have a chance to thank him for it. Even now, when his life was at risk, Quinn was trying to spare my feelings.

Maybe there was more to it, of course. I knew that he wanted to show the Brotherhood that they needed to change, that blind hatred and fury wasn't the only answer – was that his aim?

Whatever it was, I didn't have the time to analyze the situation… because two more Knights and a Paladin spilled from the crashed bird, and I realized that we were in a little trouble.

"Synth! Throw down your weapon!" The voice stung across my senses – I knew the voice of each and every Knight and Paladin, and I knew the voice that was speaking to me with such malice.

"Throw down yours, you prick! You know him! This is Paladin Danse!" Quinn's voice was strong, angry, and I could hear the indignation in his tone.

"Paladin, you're endangering your position in the Brotherhood by standing alongside this abomination!" The response was sharp and curt, and I felt Quinn surge to stand from behind me. He aimed his pistol, but he didn't pull the trigger.

"Think for yourself – the man beside me is just as loyal to the Brotherhood as you are! You need to realize that Paladin Danse isn't the enemy." Quinn stood proud and strong as he spoke, and even I could feel the pull of his voice. The two Knights behind their commanding officer actually started to lower their weapons. Perhaps… perhaps there was hope?

"Paladin Quinn! Throw your weapon down alongside the Synth! Your crimes will be reported to Maxon, as this _thing's_ head will be evidence of your-"

Quinn's pistol went off in a crack, and I saw a spark of metal hitting metal – he'd aimed for the chest armor, the thickest part. He hadn't aimed to wound, but to warn.

"You aren't taking Danse! Stand _down!_ This is my last warning."

Quinn's gun was aimed true, but my eyes weren't focused on that. They were focused on the Paladin, and his fingers squeezing down on a trigger. I pushed my body forward, but it wasn't fast enough. I heard a low groan of pain escape Quinn, and then his pistol cracked off in five rapid shots.

The Paladin fell dead to the ground, his armor's helmet in ruins and his face a wash of so much meat where the bullets had hit home.

Quinn's body buckled and he started to fall forward, blood staining the corner of his mouth, and painting an angry stain across his torso.

I managed to catch him, my laser rifle swinging up to shoot at the two Knight's as I did. They surged forward, prompted by Quinn's shots. Whatever sway he might have held over them had crumbled when he had, and I knew that we were in trouble.

In the distance, I could hear the sound of another Vertibird approaching. I moved so that Quinn's body was behind mine. He was still attempting to fire his pistol, even though I could see his face going pale and his mouth set in a line of pain. My rifle fired, and one of the Knight's screamed in pain – this… this wasn't what I wanted. This war, this hatred?

Was this the fruits of the Brotherhood's labor, after all?

The sound of a minigun let me know that the second Bird had arrived – and I knew that I didn't have enough ammo or arsenal to take it down. All that I could do was tuck Quinn's body into my arms, using the large frame of my power armor to shield him. I could do that and whisper, "I love you, Quinn." If I spoke last words, I wanted them to be that sweet truth.

It took me a second to realize that the second Vertibird wasn't firing on us – instead, the minigun's bullets were showering down against the Knights still in a suit. I held Quinn against my chest, and watched as the power armor exploded in a wash of hot metal and flame. My eyes shifted upward – if the other Bird wanted to fire down on us, I wasn't going to be able to stop them. Instead, I moved to shelter Quinn further, my fingers diving into his pocket to find a stimpak. He let out a gasp of pain, his green eyes flicking up to me as the needle shoved home in his thigh.

"What… happened?"

I heard the Bird land, and a familiar voice called out to me. "Danse! Quinn! Thank God!" Rhys – I hadn't known how he would react to the news of… what I was… but there was fear, pain, and fury in his voice. I wasn't sure if any of it was directed at me though. "Maxon sent us out to scope out Sanctuary. I think he was hunting you." Rhys spilled around the smoking wreckage of the former Knights. "Danse… thank God. Danse…" His face was pained, and there was a part of me that felt instantly anxious. Something was clearly _very wrong._

"What is it, soldier?" I fell instantly back into the role that I'd had with Rhys for so long. I was his superior – I was the one that he could rely on when he needed strength. Clearly, he needed that now. His eyes were bagged, and there was a cut fresh on his brow.

"It's Haylen, Danse. Paladin, sir…" He stumbled over his own words, and my breath caught in my chest. "Maxon sent her on a fucking suicide mission – I don't… I don't think…" I could see the fear, the pain, and the regret in his gaze. Rhys had followed in my footsteps, perhaps to a fault. Though I knew he'd felt strongly for Haylen, he'd stopped the romance from developing before it had really had a chance to start. I'd been there, at the Police Station – soft voices carrying through the empty building. Haylen had taken it all in stride, but I knew that it had wounded her.

I just didn't realize that it had affected Rhys so strongly until now. He leaned down, his fingers fiddling for a moment. Another stimpak was in his hand, and I saw the flash of the needle before it crammed into Quinn's thigh.

"Fuck, you've been waiting to stab me since we met, haven't you?" Quinn's voice was soft, sarcastic, but I could hear the concern laced in his words. He'd been awake and aware to hear about Haylen's situation. "Do you know where he sent her?"

"Some super mutant den – said it was to collect an artifact. He said that it wasn't active, but Danse, I know it was. They were swarming when we flew past."

I could feel the blood draining slowly from my face – I had to throw my power armor helmet to the ground. "How long ago was this?"

My mind thought back to Haylen, to her panicked eyes and her warm concern when she'd found out that Maxon was coming after me. She'd always stood beside me, she'd never wavered from standing strong beside me. I knew, even before, that she'd thought I deserved a rank even higher than Paladin. It was her unwavering faith in me that had gotten her into this trouble – I knew it. Maxon had never sent someone on a suicide mission before; Scribes were not sent out on their own. I knew her, though. I knew that she would have done it, without question, because _I_ had _taught_ her that the Brotherhood came before all things.

I didn't want to think that it was my actions that had led her to this… but I knew… somewhere, I knew that it was true. I knew that it was my blind trust in the Brotherhood that had led my squad to their own belief in return.

"This morning. Danse, we couldn't get in there, but maybe—"

Quinn's voice was spilling out, strong, passionate. "We need to go, now. Give us the location – we might still be able to find her in time."

I loved him in that moment, more than I had before. I loved him because he cared, because his eyes were wide, full of fury and panic. And I loved him because I knew, if Arthur Maxon had sent Haylen to her death for helping me… Quinn was going to help me take the bastard down. This wasn't the Brotherhood as I knew it – it wasn't the Brotherhood that any of us had signed up for.

It was time to stand up and make a change.


	12. Chapter 12

**Part 12**

 **POV – Quinn**

I'd never seen Danse so determined as he was on our way to the location that Rhys had given us. I could feel it radiating from him in a hot line that sent chills down my spine – on one hand, I was worried for Haylen just as much as he was. I'd only spent a small amount of time with her, but she really seemed to have a kind heart. I knew that she'd risked her position in the Brotherhood… and apparently her life… when she'd helped Danse. I couldn't believe that this was Maxon's treatment of her in return.

On the other hand, my former Paladin seemed to have found a new fire in his soul. I could feel it pulsing off of him in near palpable waves. I hadn't wanted anything like this to happen to make him realize that Maxon needed to be dealt with; clearly, there was a need for a catalyst. I had to think that everything happened for a reason. If I didn't, then I would have gone crazy long ago.

Hopefully, we could get to Haylen in time, so that the reason for this wouldn't end in tragedy.

It was lucky that the super mutants weren't so far away that we couldn't reach them. It was only a small hike, and we'd decided against going in with a Vertibird. If Haylen were being kept alive as some kind of ransom, they would be more inclined to injure her if they knew that we were coming in full force.

Instead, we were going to do things in a more covert fashion – we'd rescued captives when I'd been in the service. I'd actually been put on point multiple times for the outfits. It was why I was so good at stealth, why I was so good at knowing exactly where to place myself so that no one would see me coming. It was why I could put my pistol to the base of someone's skull and pull the trigger before they realized that the barrel was hot.

Danse knew this about me – he'd seen me in action enough times to realize that I could handle situations with fineness. I knew that I spent a lot of my time going into the fray with my guns blazing, but that was because I knew that the time that it took to be careful could honestly be time too much. I'd been in more than one situation where it seemed that minutes were the difference between the life and death of the person that I was trying to save.

It had been the difference far too many times, and I found myself facing dead bodies that were still warm. Sneaking wasn't an option.

I hoped that this wasn't the case in this situation. I didn't know how Danse would handle it… I didn't want to see him with that guilt on his face. I just wanted to save Haylen.

Even approaching the mutant den, I could tell that we were in trouble. There was a mass throng of voices – enough that I knew it was going to be difficult to work around them. I put away my regular pistol – a glow sighted beauty… and instead, I traded it for one with a longer, silenced barrel. We had to try to be as careful as possible.

I raised my hand, gesturing to a group that was slightly sequestered to the right. I knew that we wouldn't be able to take them all out covertly, but the more that we could dispatch of now, the easier it would be when the alert was finally raised. Danse looked at me, giving a sharp nod. I frowned at his plasma rifle, and rifled arsenal for a moment. After a second, I pulled the sniper rifle from my back. I'd been intending to bring it to Preston at Sanctuary Hills, but it would have to be for Danse at the moment. He couldn't fire that rifle, because it would alert every beast within a mile radius of our intentions.

He made a slight face at the offered weapon, but he understood the importance of it. Righteous Authority was placed in the holster on the back of his power armor, and we crept forward. I took a moment to aim, crouching behind a large truck to hide most of my body. Danse was going to have to move as little as possible – we'd kept his power armor, and I'd made modifications, but it was still loud enough to alert the entire camp if we weren't careful.

The small crack from my pistol was nearly unheard amongst the rabbling voices of the mutants. The great body dropped, and I quickly took aim at the other three surrounding it. I heard a small crack beside me, and another mutant dropped.

Danse was just as impressively skilled with a sniper rifle as his normal plasma preference. I wanted to compliment him, but we didn't have time. My mind, now more than ever, was slipping back into the patterns that it had when I was in war. This was a mission, and failing it would mean disaster.

My pistol cracked off four more times, taking the mutants twice in the head. In tandem with Danse's shots, we dispatched them with ease, and I let out a small sigh of relief. Though it was only four down, it was better than sounding the alarms already.

I swept the area with my eyes, seeing a pathway that would lead us closer to the inner workings of the Den. I'd been on more than my fair share of rescue missions for the Minute Men, and I knew that mutants liked to keep their prey deep in the depths of buildings, so that it was hard for them to escape. I'd lost more than a few people from taking too long.

I couldn't let that be the case with Haylen. I just couldn't.

My lead carried us forward, though we had to pause twice more to take out small patrols along the way. Finally though, we managed to slip inside of the broken down building.

Fires were burning, and the seemingly mandatory balls of meat were hanging from various locations. I tried not to look too hard at those netted gore dumps. I didn't want to think of Haylen residing within one of those. I could hear the way that Danse's breath caught in his chest, and I knew that he was worried about the same thing.

"It's going to be okay. We'll find her." My words were a soft whisper, and I wished that I could do more. I would have held him if I could have, but we didn't have the time. Instead, I started working my way deeper into the building, turning corners with my pistol pointed – I found it odd that I wasn't running into any of the mutants. They usually had guards on every level.

His voice was a bit husky when he answered me, and it made my throat tight to know that he was in so much pain. "I know we will."

The unfinished sentence there, however, was, "I just don't know if she'll be alive when we do."

I didn't know what I was going to do if she wasn't. I only knew that Maxon was going to answer for this, one way or another. I wondered if the other members of the Brotherhood even realized that he'd sent one of their own out to die. He couldn't even have the strength to call her out publically? Then again, he hadn't really been willing to do that for Danse. He hadn't brought him before anyone - he'd sent me to deal with him in silence and privacy. I didn't know if sending me had been some kind of a test, but I had failed if it was. I wasn't going to let him hurt Danse, and I wasn't going to let him get away with hurting Haylen. The fact that he was willing to do this...

There was something seriously wrong with him. I didn't know if it was the power going to his head, or something else... but I was going to find it out. I wasn't going to let someone so corrupt be in charge of the future of the Commonwealth.

With a sigh, I continued up the stairs. Save for a few tripwires that I easily caught, there wasn't anything standing in our way. My chest was starting to feel tight, anxiety creeping up and holding me tight like some unwanted lover. I didn't know where the mutants were. I'd never been in a situation where they weren't around. Every now and then, I found one dead on the ground, and I could only hope that it was a sigh that Haylen had managed to hole herself up somewhere.

There was a part of me that was doubting it more and more as we ascended to the top of the building. Three more bodies were strewn about... and I saw a door closed - it was blackened from explosion, and riddled with bullets... and standing outside of it were at least ten mutants, shouting furiously and shooting at the door.

"Haylen!" Danse scuttled forward before I could stop him - then again, I was running at his side, matching his pace perfectly. My pistols were up and firing before I'd even realized what was happening, and Danse's plasma rifle was out, joining in on the song of vengeance that my bullets were singing. I felt a hit take me in the arm, one glancing off of the chest armor that I wore, but it didn't matter. They were trying to get into that closet... that broken and battered closet.

That meant that she might still be alive.

It didn't matter if I was hurt. All that mattered was that we got to her as quick as possible. I took a moment to dive behind Danse's armor, and he moved to one knee in a liquid motion. We moved like a well-oiled machine, and I found it easy to rely on him as I checked my pistol and traded out for my non-silenced weapon. The firefight lasted for only a few minutes, and soon there were mutants scattered on the ground around us. I could hear more charging up the stairs - they'd clearly heard us from the outside. I took a moment to set a few frag mines on the ground outside of the door. It wouldn't stop them all, but it would buy us some time. I quickly blocked the entryway, and then joined Danse. He was ramming hard against the closet with his shoulder, and as I came to his side, the metal bent. That gave way for him to stick his fingers inside, ripping the door open.

The sound of his small, ragged gasp of pain told me that I wasn't going to like what I saw. He fell to his knees, his arms going out to scoop up a limp body.

The only thing that told me she was still alive was a low groan of agony that spilled from her lips. When I finally peeked around Danse's shoulder, I realized that... just because she was still breathing didn't mean that she was really alive...

At least, she wouldn't be for long.

I still handed Danse a fistful of Stimpaks, and he crammed them quickly into her side. She let out a gasp of pain, but the open wound that had perforated into her abdomen told me that she wasn't going to last for very long. The skin was attempting to knit, but the blood continued to flow. Her eyes, when she looked at Danse, were dilated, nearly blank.

"Haylen, hold on." He yanked the glove off of his power armor so that he could brush her hair from her face. She tried to smile up at him, but a small cough of pain ripped the expression from her features.

"Danse... you came. Not safe. Maxon... wanted this. I..." She was sputtering on her words, blood making them thick. I didn't know what we could do with her, other than to make her comfortable. I knew that we didn't have time to sit here, but I was going to do it anyway. I would take all of the mutants on myself if it meant that Danse could stay with her...

It wasn't going to be long, anyway...

"We need to get you out of here. I can pick you up, but it might-"

"We both know there's no use in that, Danse." The Stimpaks seemed to have alleviated at least some of her pain, because she was able to catch a breath that she didn't really have. "Need to tell you something, while I still can." Her eyes were already slipping away. I recognized the expression, and I could feel tears stinging my gaze at the sight of it.

"Don't talk like that." Danse's voice was harsh, and I could tell that he was fighting with his own emotions. I could only imagine how hard this was on him – he'd already lost Cutler. I knew that Haylen was a part of his unit, someone he'd taken under his wing. I knew what it had meant to them both when she'd risked her career for his safety.

"Maxon knew what he was doing. You have to do something." She brushed his words off like a woman dying, and stretched a blood soaked hand up to touch the side of his face.

"Haylen…"

"Thank you, Danse…" Her smile was growing softer, and her eyes were closing. His mouth was a hard line of sorrow, and he whispered out his response.

"For what. I didn't… get here…"

Her hand fell from his face, leaving a streak of crimson, and her words were half whispered out as her eyes closed. "For holding me."

In his arms, Scribe Haylen went limp… and I knew that there would be no more waking her up.

I didn't know what to do. I could see his shoulders shaking, even in the power armor. I could see pain like a fine line against his profile… and at the same time, I knew that we didn't have time to mourn. Not now. Footsteps were pounding up the stairs, and I could hear the approaching super mutants with gruff voices, screaming out their threats.

"Hold her." I didn't see it when Danse stood, but he placed Haylen's smaller frame in my arms, and I took a moment to balance myself with the weight. Before I could so much as ask what he was doing, he kicked the door open just as the frag mine went off. Righteous Authority flashed in his hands for a moment, and then he charged out to the group.

"For Haylen!" Not for the Brotherhood. Not for honor.

For Haylen.

We'd run out of Stimpaks. I'd actually given most of them to Danse for Haylen – it wasn't a waste. It had bought her a few pain free minutes to give us her message. It had bought Danse the time that he needed to at least say goodbye.

Danse was in a bad way, but not so bad that he didn't take Haylen's body from me again after his fight with the Super Mutants. He'd torn through them like some devastating storm, and by the time I'd managed to pull out a pistol while still holding Haylen's limp frame, there was nothing left for me to do. They'd shot his power armor up until he'd had to step out of it… and after that, they'd shot his frame up… but he'd still kept moving. Somehow, he'd managed to take them all down – fifteen supermutants lay scattered to waste in the hallway, and when Danse turned to me, tears of pain and fury were streaking his face. He didn't say anything – he just stepped forward and took her body from my arms… and for the moment, I didn't try to talk to him. I knew that he needed a moment – a moment to mourn, a moment to collect himself. Instead, I simply came behind him, wrapping my arms around his torso. I didn't have words, but I had my embrace.

With my arms around his stomach, his own hugging Haylen's broken body to his chest, he stood there. He stood there, and he cried… and I felt lost, because I couldn't help him.

We stood that way for what seemed like hours, though I knew that it hadn't been so long. I could feel him trembling, but his tears were silent. They streamed down his cheeks in hot waves that splashed to his shoulders.

After a few moments, I heard his voice come out in a soft, ragged whisper. "Thank you, Quinn."

I didn't know what he was thanking me for. We'd been too late, but then… I think we'd both known that we would be. Maybe it was because I'd held him – or maybe it was because I'd given him the time to collect himself. Whatever it was, he turned to me with her corpse still clasped in his arms. I did the only thing that I could think to do.

"I love you…"

He paused for just a moment, and when he blinked, more tears spilled from his light brown gaze. "I love you, too." After a beat, he took a deep breath. "We should get her back to Rhys."

Her. Haylen, who would never open her eyes again. Haylen, who had thanked Danse for his compassion… Haylen, who had died by Maxon's command.

He'd fired the first shot with Danse, and now he'd blown the horn to start a war. I wasn't going to let him get away with this. I wasn't going to let him get away with her loss, or the way that Danse's eyes were filled with sorrow like great pools of liquid agony. If he needed any more proof that the man who stood before me was more a man than anyone I'd ever met, all that he needed was to look into his gaze. No unfeeling robot could look so pain struck – no soulless being could be in so much pain.

"Let's go." There would be time later for comfort – there would be time later for so many things… but for now, we were still on Haylen's time. We were on her time, and on Rhys', who had agreed to meet us at the bunker. I didn't know how I was going to tell him that we'd been too late. I didn't want to see the devastation in his gaze. He'd chosen the Brotherhood over her once, and it had gotten him…

This.

Still, we owed it to her, and we owed it to him. If nothing else, she deserved to be buried somewhere safe, her tags kept in memory. She'd saved Danse, and even in her last moments, she'd given him words of comfort, and a fire to keep him driving on. Haylen's compassion had cost her the ultimate price… and we could never truly repay her.

She deserved so much more than this… and I was going to make sure that she got it.


	13. Chapter 13

**Part Thirteen**

 **POV – Danse**

There was no greater punishment for my failure than bringing Haylen's body back to Rhys. He was waiting at the bunker, and I could see the anxiety on his face crumple into pure agony when he spotted her prone form in my arms. Even though he could have held on to the hope that she was alive but wounded, I could see it in his eyes. He knew.

He'd known all along that we weren't going to bring her back breathing, and he'd been fooling himself up until that point. Looking at her, seeing her there, held in my grasp… he couldn't lie to himself any longer.

He took her from my arms with a small, choked sob. Though he wasn't as tall as me, he held her weight easily – it wasn't a lack of strength that brought him to his knees. It was the pain of it all. His head bowed, and he began to sob. The tears were silent, but I could see them as a ripple through his back, and a tremble to his shoulders that vibrated his entire frame. He held her close, and I couldn't do a damn thing about his pain, except for to speak in a soft, determined tone.

"Maxon is going to pay for this."

For a moment, he didn't raise his head. For a moment, Rhys stayed bowed over her body. When he spoke, he didn't look at me – and my mind told me it was because he was disappointed, furious that I hadn't made it to her in time. My mind told me that this was my fault, for being what I was.

"You damn well better." It was a sharp hiss of agony, and then Rhys looked up at me. There wasn't accusation there, but a fury so strong that it made my stomach clench. "Maxon has to pay for this, Danse. The Brotherhood needs leadership, not… not…" he looked back to Haylen's pale face, and his lips quivered. "Not this." Soft, determined, a voice thick with tears, he spoke.

"We need _you._ "

For a moment, his words didn't register in my mind. I was so prepared to be blamed, so prepared to be found guilty. I was ready to take on that responsibility, but not ready for the words that Rhys spoke. "What do you mean?" The question spilled dumbly from my throat, and his eyes blazed deeper into my own.

"We need a leader, not a monster."

"Rhys, I'm-"

He cut me off before I could get the words out of my mouth. "I don't care _what_ you are, Paladin. You are the finest soldier that I've ever seen, and you're the strongest leader that we could have. You _owe_ it to the Brotherhood to take your rightful place." There was such conviction in his words that my heart started to race. Beside me, Quinn's hand came to my shoulder. His voice was a soft murmur.

"He's right, you know."

I turned slowly, to see Quinn's green gaze burning into my own. I'd wanted to do something about Maxon, but I hadn't though…

"I've never seen someone with more conviction than you. With a man like you in charge of the Brotherhood, some real good could come from their power." Quinn paused for a second, "You aren't blindly full of hate, Danse. They may have taught you that, but I think that you're beginning to see…" His hand came up, pressing against my power armor, over my heart. "I know that you can see things differently."

Rhys looked between the two of us, and I saw understanding flash in his eyes. There was no judgment though, only a soft sorrow at his own loss. He spoke up, "You could lead us to make the world different, better. We _need_ you." There was such conviction in his tone that it made my chest ache. I'd never expected to be backed like this, not after what I was had been discovered. I'd never really had the ambition to climb further in the Brotherhood than the rank of Paladin because I'd always thought that Maxon was a fit and just leader.

Seeing Haylen's prone form told me that he was not what I'd thought… still, why did they think that I should be the one chosen?

"Quinn, I think that you should-"

"You bleed Brotherhood, Danse. I joined up because I wanted a cause to fight for, a force to back me in my search. I joined up because of _you._ It's not me." I smiled, full lips and bright eyes, "It's never been me. It's always been you."

My chest ached, the heart that I wasn't sure I really had thundering in my ribcage. They were both looking at me with a soft honesty and _faith_ , and I couldn't turn my gaze away. I couldn't deny them. I didn't think that I was the right man for the job, but maybe that didn't matter.

Maybe it mattered more than they did.

I think that Quinn saw the moment that my decision shifted. His smile broadened until it lit his entire face, and I couldn't help but to feel a sweet warmth of affection in my chest. "That's right, big guy. So, what do you think we need to do first?"

I paused for a moment. Protocol and regulations could pertain to this situation – a Paladin could challenge the Elder if they thought and had evidence for the fact that they were unfit. But I needed more than just a Knight and a Paladin at my back – I needed to know that there were still others in the Brotherhood who believed in me.

It was hard to think that they would since I couldn't even believe in myself. I frowned, and I think that Quinn saw my faith wavering. "What if you had a show of force other than just to Brotherhood – proof that you have the Commonwealth's best interest in mind?"

I stared at him for a moment, unsure of his meaning. It would, of course, help. Even if they weren't people of the Brotherhood, individuals standing behind me when I challenged Maxon would help.

"I need to know if other Brothers still…" My words drifted softly, and I had to take a deep breath, "If they still believe in me, in my mission." Rhys nodded, though I hadn't assigned him the job, I knew that he would ask around. I worried, for a moment – I didn't want him being hurt in the same way as Haylen. My eyes turned to Quinn – I couldn't think about that right now. "What did you have in mind?"

Quinn tilted his head in thought, dark hair falling into his gaze. "Well, what if you had your own militia behind you. I have a feeling that the Minute Men might have something to say about Maxon's behavior."

My eyes widened – I didn't expect the Minute Men to fall into line behind me. The Brotherhood could respect the force that they were, and what they tried to be – they were unorganized, sloppy, and behind on technology… but maybe… with them standing behind us.

Facing Rhys was a worse punishment than being exiled from the Brotherhood. At the time, I'd thought that nothing could hurt worse… but watching the man who had always acted so tough, so emotionally distant, break down into tears in front of me tore at my heart. He took Haylen's body from me, and he was rocking back and forth, head bowed over her chest. His sobs weren't audible, but I could see the way that they quaked in his shoulders.

Quinn's eyes averted to the side, and he frowned. It seemed as though he was thinking about telling me something, but he wasn't sure. I could feel my own brow furrow. "What is it, Quinn?"

I'd known him long enough to know when he was trying to keep something back from me. Finally, he lifted his bright green gaze and took a deep breath. "I also know people in the Railroad." Instantly, my senses stood up at alert, and I saw Rhys give a small grimace. "Danse," Quinn's voice was full of scolding, soft and cajoling. "Think about it. If you come, a Commonwealth united, with all of the factions standing behind you, you'll be a fucking stunning representation of what the world could be if we could all work together. I know that you tried this before, and the Institute ruined it for everyone. But…" He frowned, "Things could be different this time. We could all work together."

I stared at him for a long minute – I didn't know how I felt about working with the Railroad. At least, the Minute Men had been striving for a good cause. The Railroad had just been working to smuggle synths…

My chest constricted. Maybe it was a better cause than I realized. Even their loathing for us could be… understood. Blind hatred led to fear, to anger, to enemies.

Could we put that all behind us?

The thought of a united Commonwealth was one that I'd never imagined before. It wasn't something that had seemed attainable – but for a small, shining moment, I could see it. Quinn, the General of the Minute Men could certainly talk to his people… and if he had contacts within the Railroad, if they knew that the person challenging Maxon was none other than the very thing that they were trying to protect.

Was there a chance that things could _truly_ change for the better? Just thinking it frightened me, because thinking it meant that I had hope.

And having hope meant that I could be let down monumentally if things failed.

"It's worth a shot." Rhys' voice was soft, just a bit hoarse.

I think that it was Rhys that actually convinced me. His voice was so small, so full of the pain of what had happened to him. He looked down to Haylen's body in his arms, and his thick brows furrowed. "If we can't do it for ourselves, we need to do it for her. She deserved…" He took in a shaking breath. "She deserved more than the Brotherhood ever gave her. We need to make it what she always thought it could be."

The weight of his words spilled through me. There was a truth to it – there were so many people who had joined, so many who thought that we were fighting for something honest, and true. But what did the Brotherhood really stand for, if they could send their own to die. What did they stand for, if blind fury was the only thing in their hearts?

I was guilty of that emotion, and I knew it. But I could see now… I could see that maybe that blind hatred wasn't _right._ Maybe we needed to look at all of the people of the Commonwealth in a new light.

It wasn't because of me – it wasn't because I thought that I was worth anything. I still struggled, and I knew that I would for some time, with what I was. But I knew that I could _feel_ how wrong Maxon's actions were. I knew that he wasn't right.

I knew that something had to be done.

"All right." I could hear the surprise in my own voice, and the two men looked up to me with wide eyes, full of shock and _hope._ "We'll do this. But we're going to have to approach it cautiously. I don't know how Maxon will react if we just come barging in. I know him – at least, I thought I did…" I frowned, "Maybe there's some sense still left inside of him. We need to speak with him."

"And we need to have a backup plan for if that fails." Quinn quickly interjected. I could see the worry in his gaze, and his predetermined assessment of the situation. I wished that I could have argued with him – I wish that I could have insisted that the Brotherhood would stand true behind its oaths and vows… but I couldn't. I didn't trust Maxon.

"We'll go into the situation with all outcomes in mind. For now," I turned my attention back to Rhys, "Your mission is covert – you act like nothing is wrong. Can you do that?" I could see Rhys pull himself up to attention, even though his arms gripped Haylen tighter.

"I can, Paladin." I nodded, and I could feel pride blooming in my chest.

"Good. Ask around – get the information about who is loyal and who is blind to Maxon's corruption. Quinn and I will speak with our," I hesitated over the word, but still said it, "Contacts. In three days, we'll meet back here. By then, we should be able to formulate a plan that will carry us through."

I could see the way that Rhys was looking at me – already, there was reverence and deference, as though I was a leader.

It was the way that I used to look at Maxon.

"Ad Victoriam." His voice was soft, and he pulled Haylen closer. "Before I go, though…" He looked down to the body in his arms, and I knew what he wanted.

I wanted the same thing.

"Let's send her off well, Knight."

I think that I saw the sheen of tears in Rhys' eyes, but he quickly turned his head with a curt nod. "Thank you, sir."

Tonight, we would bury Haylen. Tomorrow... tomorrow we would start a rebellion.


	14. Chapter 14

**POV – Quinn**

I knew that Danse was strong, but he seemed to step into the role of leader with more grace than even I could have imagined. There was something about him that was _different._ Haylen's death seemed to have changed his entire outlook… and I knew that it was for the better. Perhaps it was because he realized that he had more compassion as a _machine_ than his Elder did, a man of flesh and blood. He was more fit to head the Brotherhood than that bastard ever had been.

And finally, he was going to step into that role.

We buried Haylen beneath a bush of wild flowers, outside of the bunker. It was only after Rhys covered her with a soft sheet that he held his hand out. I could see the glisten of her holotags clutched between his fingers. I hated this for him – I knew what it was like to lose someone… I'd lost brothers and sisters in the war, and the void of their deaths never really left your heart. I knew that it was so much more with him. He'd loved her, and it was far too late for him to ever let her know. The only thing that he could do now was try to make a difference in her name.

I could only hope that we were going to be able to help him.

He stayed by her grave for a while, before signaling in for a Vertibird. A part of me was pleased with the fact that the pilot and the crew inside clearly supported Danse. They put fist to chest when they saw him, though they couldn't call out their words over the sound of the engines roar. Still, I could see the emotion pulse through Danse's gaze. Already, loyalty was there. Already, there was a hope, a foundation.

It was getting dark though, and we needed to get some shut eye. Both of our bodies ached from the fight – and honestly, after the day that we'd had, I just wanted to lay in Danse's arms for a while. I wanted to feel his warm body against me. We slipped back into the bunker, with full intentions of heading towards the settlement of Sanctuary as soon we'd caught a few hours of shut-eye. After that, I'd head to the Railroad headquarters; I was taking a risk in bringing Danse there, and I knew it. They might not take kindly to his presence at all.

I hoped, though, that I could catch Deacon before too much of a stir was caused. Out of power armor, Danse wouldn't set off too many alarms. Once they knew what he was…

Well, maybe we could finally start putting the Commonwealth back together. I knew that the first step was to kick away the lines that had been drawn in the sand. We had to work together, or we were going to tear each other apart.

I had contacts in all of the cities, even Goodneighbor – from Ghoul to Synth… I knew that I had people who would stand behind him.

I knew that we would shock all of the people of the Brotherhood, but maybe that was exactly what they needed. Nick Valentine wasn't the enemy. John Hancock wasn't the enemy.

The Institute was the enemy, and even then… I'd been there. There were innocent people, who had no idea of the happenings behind the scenes. I'd seen them, thinking that my son was some kind of Saint for their salvation, while never realizing that he was hardly the savior that they needed.

I didn't know how we were going to change everything. I knew that I needed to talk to Danse about my time in the Institute, but I wasn't ready for it – not yet. We still had to make it to Sanctuary Hills, to the Railroad's headquarters… to Goodneighbor, perhaps. The more that I thought about it, the more that I realized having a joined force was the best option for us.

No, there was a lot to talk to Danse about, but for the moment, I just wanted to lay down with him. We'd had a long day.

He trailed back into the bunker, waiting for me to step off of the elevator before completely disabling it. Again, he waited for me to walk ahead of him before moving to block the broken doorway with his power armor. His eyes swept the room one last time, and then I watched the tension run from his body, like air running from a balloon. He literally deflated in front of me, coming to sit almost limply against the bed mattress in front of me.

After a second, he looked up to me, light brown hues slightly shinier than usual. "There's so much to do, Quinn. I never thought to have this kind of responsibility." Thick brows furrowed, and I could see the fire that I'd noticed earlier still burning strong, "But I've always wanted what was best for the Commonwealth – my status as a Synth doesn't change that. Isn't that reason enough to make a change?"

I knew what he meant – if he could care, if he was a Synth, and he could care… then the Brotherhood's entire perspective, their rules that they so carefully followed? They were all wash. That wasn't to say that the Gen 1 and 2's that ran around shooting blindly and kidnapping the people of the Commonwealth weren't an issue. That wasn't to say that the Institute needed to be brought under heel… but it couldn't be through blind rage that the Brotherhood promoted.

I came to the bed beside him, slipping around behind his body. I had to come up on my knees to reach the elevation that I needed, but I slipped my arms around his shoulders. My fingers found the zipper of his uniform, and I released it. A few inches of wiggle space gave me the ability to dive my fingers against his skin – they began to work gently against tense muscles, and I heard a low groan ache from Danse's throat that made my entire body jolt in reaction.

God, but he was sexy.

My fingers continued their tribute to his frame, kneading against his pectoral muscles for a moment before pulling up. As I did so, it forced the top of his uniform to split from his skin, spilling down to frame tan shoulders. My head dipped, and I kissed the hollow of his throat in a brief touch before letting my fingers continue their mission to relax the man before me.

"You're going to be okay, Danse. All of this will be okay. You have the strength inside of you to do this, and I'll make sure to be there with you every step of the way." My thumbs worked at knots on his back for a moment, and then I let my lips trail a soft, sweet line along the curve of his shoulder as my fingers moved downward to work the tension along the line of his spine.

He shivered against me, a soft sound escaping him again. Danse leaned his body back, forcing my hands to move or become trapped between us. I let them thread around his frame instead, letting my fingers knead once more against his chest. Taut muscles refused to give way to my ministrations.

I didn't think that I could simply work the tension in his body away with my fingers, but I was damn well going to try.

"Danse..." I didn't know what I meant to say to him. Words of encouragement, of hope? There were so many things that could be uttered, but I knew that they wouldn't make a difference until he was actually seeing results. I could promise him those, and I meant to keep the promises, but it wouldn't matter until he realized that the Minute Men would stand behind him.

I could only hope that Deacon and Hancock, Nick and anyone else that I could think of as an accurate representation of the Commonwealth felt the same way.

For now, words would do nothing to relax him. My fingers fell flat against his chest, splaying wide before slowly trailing down to the hardness of his abdomen. I hugged him close to me and let my head come to a rest at the crook of his neck. "I love you, Danse. I heard you murmur it to me when you thought that the second Vertibird was coming after us."

His body tensed for just a moment, probably at the memory, but I felt warm hands come up to link our fingers together. Instead of pulling my hands from his body, he used his grip to make me hug him tighter. "I thought that we were going to die there, I..." he trailed off. Even now, I could see that he had trouble really voicing his emotions. I'd already given in to the fact that he would probably have that issue for a long time to come. He was so used to being a Paladin, a man at the top of his rank. I knew that Danse had never abused his position, or engaged in activities that would make him feel like it was an abuse. Eventually, I was going to make him realize that it wasn't an abuse.

It was very literally my pleasure.

He turned in a sudden movement that took me off guard, but I happily went with the motion of him wrapping his arms around me, pulling me across his lap. Strong arms wrapped around my back, settling me into straddling him. My lips found his own this time, and I gave him a soft, gentle kiss. "You're going to be amazing." I murmured the words like a sweet promise against his lips, and I was rewarded with the sensation of his parting pout, so I could deliver them personally with my tongue.

I let my mouth work against the velvet of his tongue, his rough lips until they were soft beneath my attentions. Finally, I pulled back. I could feel both of our bodies aching for more... but there was a part of me that was worried. I didn't want Danse to think that I was taking advantage of what had happened earlier. I didn't know how he felt about dealing with grief.

"You think too much," I was shocked by the tease in Danse's voice, even more so because I recognized those words that my own. I'd spoken them to him after our first kiss, and now he was looking deep into my eyes and spilling them back to me.

"Don't know what you mean." I let my lips part into a soft smile, lowering my head to kiss along the line of his collarbone. He moaned again, his fingers finding my hair and running through it slowly.

"I want you, Quinn. I'm never going to not," His voice dropped for a moment, and I felt him take in a breath to prepare himself for his next sentence. "You're my home."

His words struck a sweet chord of music in my chest, making the warmth that I was feeling in my pelvic region spread like wildfire throughout my entire body. There was something so sexy about his honesty, so achingly pure about it. I knew how hard it was for him to vocalize things like that, so to hear him do it was a true pleasure. My lips skimmed upward to catch against his own again - I kissed him once, and then let him feel my soft smile against his mouth.

"I'll always be here, Danse. Always."

I only hoped that it was a promise that I could keep.

He seemed oblivious to my inner musing on that depressing little fact, because he was moving again. His body fell to the side, and he brought us both to lay against the bed. I blinked up at him for a moment, and then decided that now was the time to simply let all thought go - I only wanted to feel... and all that I could feel right now was Danse's arms wrapping around my body, slipping between us to tug my shredded Brotherhood of Steel uniform from my body.

I was only too happy to help him.

It took a few minutes, but we were both stripped from our clothing and laying back against the bed again. We still stayed facing one another on our sides, arms tightly holding against desperate frames. There was something so intimate about looking into his eyes from this close, feeling his hands roaming slowly against my frame. This was different than our first time - that had been all tongue and teeth, desperation made tangible.

Now, we took the time to explore, to truly enjoy and appreciate what was lying before us. His fingers skimmed down my chest, and I could feel the soft pads stop and hesitate over every scar on my chest.

There were quite a few.

Every one of them told a story, and Danse knew only a small part of the prose. Eventually, I would tell him the rest. Someday. It wasn't only Danse who was closed off - I was loathe to bring up my past. Some of it, because I'd finally managed to well and truly escape it.

Some of it, because bringing up those memories that I could never truly have again was just too painful.

The man who laid before me, earnest in his exploration, deserved to hear it all.

As his mouth set against the curve of my throat, my mind made a soft amendment – he deserved to hear about it all… maybe just not right now. My lips curved into an agreeing smile as his mouth dove downward. His lips traced where his fingers had touched moments ago, stopping to linger on my newest scar – the one that I'd acquired from the other Brotherhood members.

"I won't let them hurt you like this again, Quinn. I promise." His words were soft, and they held a slow burn of vehemence that made me shiver. I could tell that he meant it. I pulled myself closer, catching his lips with my own and letting my hands roam over his body. Tomorrow, while we were on our way to Sanctuary, I would tell him about Shaun, about the Institute. About my past.

For tonight, all that I wanted was to completely lose myself to his touch, to his kisses… to the sweet tidal wave of passion that was my sweet Paladin Danse.


	15. Chapter 15

**POV: Danse**

Quinn was like some insatiable animal through the entire night. We'd bunked down to get rest, but his searching, hot mouth wouldn't let that happen. His hands trailed a pathway of desire and need over my entire body, and I found myself caught up in the thready cries that called out my name over and over again. I didn't know what had possessed him, but I found myself swept up in the throes of it. I lost track of the times that he called out for me, and my body would have been lit like a radstorm, had his kisses left behind light.

And yet, somehow, when we woke the next morning I felt achingly relaxed, perfectly sated. Quinn tossed restlessly beside me, caught up in a dream that was far less kind than he deserved. My hands came out, wrapping around him and pulling his body close - he snuggled into me, melting instantly at the heat of my body. I heard a soft, slow intake of breath, and I felt it when his lashes fluttered open. Drowsily, hidden in the curve of my neck, he spoke.

"Mornin'." His voice sounded achingly tired, but I could sense the undercurrent of worry beneath it - it had the same flavor as the fervency of our lovemaking the night before, and I was beginning to wonder what thought was plaguing Quinn's mind that would make him so… anxious. He pulled away from my embrace after a moment, though he seemed as reluctant to do it as I was to let go.

We had to, though. Things were being set into motion today, and as much as I wanted to stay hidden in the bunker for the rest of… well, ever… I knew that I couldn't. We couldn't.

There were things to be done.

Quinn stood slowly, fingers grabbing the Brotherhood of Steel uniform that he'd haphazardly thrown from his frame the night before. He stepped into it, and I realized that he hadn't met my gaze. I frowned.

"Quinn…?" My voice was a lingering question, and I knew that he understood what I was asking. Deft fingers zipped up his clothing, and finally, he turned to look at me.

"I want to tell you about myself, Danse." The weight of his words, which might have seemed odd to someone else, hit me in the chest. Quinn had always kept himself at arm's length, a distance that kept his long forgotten past carefully tucked into hindsight. I never blamed him - I hadn't been able to imagine waking up 200 years into the future with the knowledge that everything that you loved was dead, and the child that you cared for so deeply was taken from you. I'd never pushed him, but I had always assumed a day would come when he would tell me about his feelings.

I just didn't realize that it would be now, on the dawn of us taking steps that could potentially change the fate of the entire Commonwealth. Maybe it was appropriate, after all. He slid his gaze slowly from me, pulling on his armor without keeping my eyes. Quinn was usually intently staring, always trying to work out my expressions. Now, it was my turn. I slipped off the bed, uncaring of my state of undress, and wrapped my arms around him. I leaned into him, pressing a soft kiss against his neck. Beneath my fingers, I felt him still. A slow tremor pulsed through his body, but he leaned back against me.

"Nothing that you can tell me will change how I feel." My voice was a husky promise, and he let out a soft laugh.

"I don't know about that, big guy. I have a long story to tell - it starts with a kid who didn't know if they'd really survive another day, and ends with the…" I could feel his body slump, the pain that was rocking through him, "With monster that I found in the Institute." He turned in my grip, tilting his chin to look up at me. "I love you, Danse. We're going to stand strong together, and that means that you need to know the truth - all of it. You need to know _me._ "

I had always suspected that there were demons to Quinn's past that haunted him. Sometimes, he would look beyond me, and I could see a silent movie playing behind his green hues. He'd brush it off and give me a smile, and we wouldn't speak of it. I think, now that he knew we were facing something that could potentially change _everything_ , he needed to let me know. Maybe he just wanted to show me that he trusted me, in the way that he wanted to convince me that the Brotherhood could trust me as their leader.

I didn't know his motive, but I was ready to know him - fully and completely. I was in love with the man that stood in front of me, and no shadow of his past would change that. The fact that I could tell Quinn worried that it would made my heart ache. I knew that it wasn't a matter of trust in me - it was simply his opinion of himself, of who he was, and what he'd done. Something had changed when he came back from the Institute, and we'd been too swept up in my own crisis to really address it.

I was ready to be there for him now. The road to Sanctuary would be a few days travel - I would listen to him speak with an open mind and accepting arms the entire trek if I had to. Quinn had accepted me for who I was, for _what_ I was, without question. He accepted me, even when I wasn't sure that I accepted myself. I wanted to show him that he had that same, sweet grace in return.

Always.

It was the least that I could do for him, and a perfect foundation for the relationship that I wanted to build. I had told him to give me time, and he was giving me honesty instead; I was ready for it.

We took a half hour to get everything prepped and ready to clear out of the bunker, and Quinn was uncharacteristically silent the entire time. I could tell that he was contemplating things, I think putting together his thoughts, and how he wanted to speak. I left him to his silence, but I found myself reaching out, brushing against him, pushing his hair back from his forehead when it fell into his gaze… and though we didn't speak, every touch elicited the beautiful spread of his smile that, I think, had made me fall in love with him from the beginning.

It was only once we left the bunker and the sun hit his eyes that he took a slow, deep breath. His gaze shifted from me towards Sanctuary Hills, and he smiled - this smile was different though; it was like a mask of indifference, and I could see a shadow of pain behind it.

"I'm fairly certain that my Father killed my Mother, though I don't have any proof, except for faint dreams... but she's the reason that I call himself Quinn." He took off walking, as though he wasn't opening his soul to me. I followed behind him as silently as I could, unwilling to speak and break the spell of his words. "My name is Aubrey Pistol Francis. My mother's maiden name was Quinn." He shrugged, casting me a slight glance, I think to gauge how I was reacting. "I liked Quinn better."

I didn't know if I was supposed to speak. I caught up to stand at his side, sliding the glove from my power armor so that I could catch his fingers in my own. Honestly, doing so was against my own protocol - hands should always be free in the Commonwealth, in case of an attack. But I needed to feel our digits entwined, and I needed him to know that nothing that he could say would make me turn away from him. I caught the edge of his smile, soft and hidden as it was, and my fingers squeezing against his own prompted him to carry on.

"My first memories are of my father beating me. I've had my ribs cracked, my fingers broken." His finger graced down along his thigh, and it was the only indication that the words that he spoke were anything more than a list to him. "Burns, you name it." He shrugged, and turned to fix me again with that smile - it was so blank, and yet so full of pain all at once. I hated the man who had done this to him with a fierce intensity that I didn't think was possible for a stranger. "But my Father taught me that crying is a weakness, so I never did." And his words sparked a thousand memories - I'd never really seen him cry. Not once, during our entire time together. I'd never wondered why, because it hadn't registered. But now, it made sense.

"Quinn..."

His fingers tightened in my own again, and he shrugged. "It's fine, Danse. He didn't break me." For a second he seemed to consider, and then he went on, "I left for the military when I was eighteen years old, and I met a man there who changed my life." This was the first time that I saw an indication of pain sweep his face - something gut-wrenching and so deep that it played across the lines of his soul. "I was _happy._ I was really happy for a long time. Even through the war, and after. The man..." His lips twisted, "And the beautiful woman that he married... they made me feel..."

He frowned, and I saw him widen his eyes - the slight shimmer of moisture was there for a second, and gone in a flash. He wouldn't cry.

"I married her cousin, my sweet if bitter Nora. I married her while I waited for them to come home to me - they were still deployed when the bombs..." His mouth twisted again, and again I saw pain lance through him, "There weren't Vaults where he was. There wasn't a way that he could have... and even if he had, it's been two-hundred years..." He seemed to be struggling with something inwardly, and all that I could do was hold his hand all the tighter. Finally, with a shaking breath, he gathered himself.

"But I had a son, a beautiful baby boy, Harvey Shaun. And he was perfect, and things were going to settle - we were all going to be happy. And then," He gestured around us, to the Commonwealth and the waste that it had become. "And when I woke up, I went looking for him, because he was all that I had left of that past."

There was a fine, trembling pulse rocking through his body now, and I realized that he was getting to the part of his story that had caused him the worst anxiety. I had a feeling that it had something to do with the Institute, and what it he'd found there. "It's okay, Quinn."

He flicked haunted eyes to me, but the ghost of his smile crossed his features. "Because you're here, it might be, after all. I didn't think that I could ever feel happy again, Danse. But you," he smiled, and he didn't need words. I understood.

"What happened in the Institute, Quinn?" After a pause of silence, I prompted him onward. I didn't want him to lose the nerve that he'd clearly been working so hard to build up. He let out a soft, bitter laugh.

"I found Shaun."

There was a beat, and he continued on. "They woke him up seventy years ago, Danse. He's..." Quinn dropped his gaze, "He's the leader of the fucking Institute." Shock washed over me in a palpable wave. I wasn't sure what I'd expected, but this confession was not it. Instantly, questions poured through me - if his son was the leader of the Institute, how could we fight against it... and that meant... that his son.. had made...

He had made me.

Oh… _oh…_

"I don't feel like he's my son, Danse. The way that he spoke, the way that he seemed so indifferent-" He paused, taking another deep breath that seemed to rock the shaking in his voice back. "I felt more connected to the little Synth version of himself that he made to _experiment…"_ He choked off the words, and I felt his fingers loosen in mine. Another fine tremor pulsed through his body, "I just thought you should know. I've never opened up to you about _any_ of this…" he paused, and he looked down. "I love you. You deserve to know me- all of me."

I caught his hand tight again, pulling him against me in a quick motion. It was easy enough to loop my arms around him, actually lifting him the few inches that it took to plant a kiss against his softly trembling lips. I let my emotions sink through that kiss- my love, my deep devotion, everything that I felt. His tongue was sweet velvet as it warily came out to taste mine, but then, like a floodgate being released, his arms came up around me, and we were kissing in full, sweet heat and passion, an affirmation of our emotions.

And for the first time since I'd learned about the Commonwealth, I threw safety aside. At that moment, we could have been onset by a Deathclaw, ferals, mutants, and sniped by the Gunners… and I don't think that either of us would have noticed a thing.

Quinn's brief overview of his past was just the beginning of our conversation. After we'd started our trek again, he offered me the option of questions. I felt almost guilty that my curiosity spurred me forward. He spoke soft, fond words of the man and woman who he never gave a name - and I never pushed for it. I think that saying it would have made him ache too much. He talked of being a boy like it was so long ago, even though I knew that Quinn couldn't have been older than twenty-six; and when I asked him about the Institute, his gaze lowered for a few moments. But he talked about Shaun, and the tiny child that he'd constructed in his own image - a synth version of the boy that Quinn had been looking for all along.

I could see him struggling with that fact, and I wondered if it had something to do with me. His eyes continued to flick upward at the mention of it… but he didn't seem ready to even admit his emotions to himself. It made me ache, the way that he spoke, as though anything that he could tell me would change my mind. If anything, it made me feel closer to him. Quinn was all smiles and charm- I'd always know that there was something deeper, some quiet place that he'd never let me touch, but he was baring himself to me now… one slow, aching piece at a time.

With his childhood, he opened up about it slowly - he gestured to different scars on his body, recounting in a soft, detached voice about where they'd come from. When he lifted the hem of his shirt and I let my fingers trail along the gash along his back, he gave a small shiver of pain, and averted his gaze.

" _Sometimes bad things happen for a good reason. It's a scar that I'd never regret, because in the end, it gave me something wonderful."_ And for a while, that was all that he would say. My fingers stayed warm on his back, and he finally turned a soft smile to me. " _I guess the scars that brought me to you are all on the inside."_

Inside, my heart swelled - I could see the love pouring from his eyes, and I knew that this was a man that I was never going to be able to let go. The road to Sanctuary was filled with truth, hope, and Quinn's hot, burning gaze and sweet emotions forever burning his name into my soul.


	16. Chapter 16

**Part 16**

 **POV – Quinn**

I didn't think that it would be so painful to talk about my past. I'd known that it would hurt to talk about Shaun, but I didn't realize how much it would hurt to spend days trying to squeeze out Silas and Nora's names, but never being able to let them escape the tip of my tongue. I didn't want the thought of them out in this world, for them to see this place so broken - that all of our fighting and the losses we'd experienced were for nothing. I didn't want them to be corrupted by what the Commonwealth was now.

Maybe when things changed – maybe then I could tell Danse the name of the man and the woman that I referred to so fondly.

Speaking of my Father, my past before those two… that was oddly easier. I'd never really talked about it much. Even Silas hadn't know the full extent of the details, but to let Danse know now, to make him understand why tears weren't a thing that I could easily summon up… there was something almost liberating about it.

The discussion certainly made the trek to Sanctuary take no time at all – and each night, when we laid down to camp, Danse's arms were tight around me, and I felt closer to him than I ever had before.

When we finally came across the bridge to Sanctuary, I heard Preston's voice calling out to me in excitement, his address of _General_ like a siren to the entire town. I'd done the best I could to rebuild the shambles of what had once been a quaint little homestead, but you could only do so much with post-apocalyptic materials.

I heard Danse's footsteps slow, and he fell into line behind me as we came to the center of the town. I could almost feel the waves of anxiety coming off of him – we'd been so distracted talking about me that he hadn't had to worry about garnering Garvey's support. Now, the task was thrown into his face, and I knew that he wasn't sure what to make of it.

I already had faith in the warmth of the smile that greeted me, and I gestured for him to follow me into the small bunker that I'd built myself.

The clank of Power Armor was all that let me know that Danse came with us, that and the soft sound of the door shutting behind us.

"What is it, General? You look serious." As soon as I turned to Preston, I could see the concern in his gaze. It had taken him some time to open up to me, but I felt a real friendship with the Minute Man – I could see a lot of the world that I'd left behind in his dark gaze. There was hope there, and passion that had been reignited since we'd started to change the Commonwealth. I smiled softly at him, and then flicked my gaze to Danse.

"There's something that I think you should know – I'm not going to order you, or any of our men for that matter, to follow me. But there's going to be a fight soon, and I think that a show of arms and solidarity is our best defense." Slowly, Preston shifted his gaze from myself to Danse, and I could see the confusion clear on his face.

"A fight with… who..?" The fact that he didn't automatically assume I spoke of the Institute told me that he was already clicking the pieces of the puzzle together. I opened my mouth to speak, but Danse's voice rang out soft, sweet liquid sincerity.

"With the corrupt morals of the Brotherhood of Steel. Garvey…" he paused, "Preston—I know that we haven't always seen eye to eye in our methods of helping the Commonwealth, but I know that the desire to help was still shared. I," He frowned, and I could see the way that he struggled with himself. I took a step towards him, my hand coming up to rest of the metal of his armor, warm from the blazing sun. "I've recently come to terms with a part of myself that I never knew, and doing that made me face the truth. The Brotherhood doesn't fight for its own mission. Maxon won't let us."

Preston leaned back on his heels, his eyes widening further so that thick lashes spilled upward. I said nothing – Danse would get to all of the details in his own time, and to hear him say aloud the words that I'd been thinking all along was honestly a beautiful thing.

"What made you realize this, Danse?" There was a leery tone to Preston's voice, and I couldn't blame him. My Paladin had been nothing but a living, breathing, exemplary Brotherhood member in every meeting they'd had prior.

"Quinn recently infiltrated the Institute, and recovered information on a Holodisc. I didn't know before… but I'm… I…" He frowned. Preston's eyes shifted from Danse to me, and I stepped closer to my lover. I thought, for a moment, that I was going to have to speak, but finally Danse finished his sentence. "I'm a synth."

Shock rippled across Preston's face in a clear cut wave, that rocked from the gape of his jaw to his flared eyes. He couldn't school his features, but his words put me at ease. I'd never thought of Preston as someone who judged synths, and I was glad I wasn't mistaken. "I'm sure that your Elder didn't take too well to the news?"

"He ordered Quinn to kill me."

To my surprise, Preston actually let out a small laugh. When my brows knitted together, and Danse commented on how he didn't see the humor in the situation, Garvey simply put one hand up.

"Any fool could see that Quinn and you…" He waved his hand, and his full lips spilled into a smile. In a quick move, he put one hand out, extending it to Danse. "Regardless, you're a good man, Danse. You've helped Quinn with more settlements than I can count. The Minutemen stand behind you."

I was pleased to see Danse put his hand out immediately, taking the young man's fingers in his own and shaking them. After a second, Preston smiled, "Why don't you get out of that Power Armor and give it a rest, Danse. We'll get a meal together, and then we can start talking about your plan." His dark eyes lit up at the words, and I could tell that there was an excitement pulsing through Preston that I'd never seen before.

"I'm not sure there's that much of a plan at the moment," Danse's words were guarded, but he took a few steps to the corner and spilled out of his Power Armor. His eyes flicked around the room for a moment, and I had a second to feel a slight flush nearly creep up my cheeks. I'd made the bunker some time ago, before I'd met Danse. I knew that up the stairs, my bedroom and the room that I'd made for Shaun still stood intact. I didn't want to think about going up there, taking apart the crib that I'd spent hours restoring. I pulled my thoughts away from that spiral and turned my attention back to the two men in front of me.

"You're going to face off against Maxon? I always thought that he was too radical. I'd heard about the Brotherhood before, but the Minute Men seemed more concerned with helping the people, and less concerned with…" I could see darkness swirling in Danse's gaze - a warning that he was still programmed to prickle at the slightest mention of Maxon's corruption, at least on some level. Old habits die hard. Apparently Preston could see it as well, because he trailed off slowly. What shocked me was when my Paladin spoke.

"The Brotherhood used to stand for something - helping the people of the Commonwealth, returning the world to what it was before technology and man's corruption ruined it. Somewhere, we lost sight of that - somewhere, we lost sight of the fact that not _everything_ technologically based that isn't in the hands of the Brotherhood is corrupt. I…" He frowned, and I could see that saying these things both wounded and healed him. "I want the Brotherhood to be a symbol to the people again, and a promise of safety. More like your Minute Men, really."

I felt shock, but at the same time, I'd almost known that he would say that. The Minute Men were truly champions of the Commonwealth. They didn't care who you were, or what you'd done - they didn't care about technology. They cared about bringing the people back to what they'd once been… and I knew, from Danse's reaction when he'd seen Diamond City, that he cared more about the people than the Brotherhood seemed to let on. Maxon had a dream, and a vision… but that vision had ridden on the wings of prejudice and hatred.

"Whatever you decide to do, we'll stand with you. Maybe Maxon will back down if you have a show of force." Preston's voice was hopeful, and I wished that I could believe that it would be that easy. I knew that the show of force that we were garnering had more to do with showing the other members of the Brotherhood that we had the Commonwealth behind us, and less to do with the fact that it would change Maxon's mind. I didn't have faith in the fact that the man could change - whatever had turned him into the heartless bastard that he was now, it was too late to go back.

Haylen's blood was still on his hands, and he could never do anything to wash it off.

I didn't know how Danse felt about the situation, but we'd worry about it later. For now, I was enjoying the fact that he and Preston seemed to be getting along. I knew that the Minute Men would be the easiest group to get on our side… and I knew that there was more work ahead of us than I wanted to think about - but at least, for tonight, it felt like a victory.

After talking to Preston for a while longer, letting him know that we intended to go to the Railroad, and anyone else that we could garner support from, we went around to the other settlers in Sanctuary. Every time I came here, it seemed like there were one or two new people. There were times when I would come back and find a dead body - and usually, that body had synth components. Preston told me of Coursers that came in to the settlement, seemingly with only one target in mind. I hated it - I put up more defense every time I came here, because I didn't want _anyone_ to be taken out by the Institute. It was this heartless, careless behavior that reassured me that my son wasn't… he wasn't the child that I'd held so long ago. He was a monster now.

I could feel the responsibility of handling him like a constant weight on my shoulders… but for now, I had to worry about Danse. I'd think of it after we'd secured the Brotherhood on our side. If we didn't have to fight each other anymore, maybe handling my son would be just a bit easier.

Danse seemed perfectly shocked with each face that smiled, and then turned grave before agreeing to help him. With me standing by his side, they had no reason to doubt him. And with the threat that Maxon presented, there was nothing else that we could do but to take him out of the picture, in one form or another. Danse hoped for peace, but I knew that there was no chance for that. By the time that we had spoken with the settlers, the sun was sinking below the horizion, and I knew that now wasn't time to set out for the Railroad headquarters. Though we wanted to travel in the dark, the raider infested area around the church wasn't a place for either of us to be without proper vision, even though I had faith in our ability to handle most situations. I finally slipped my fingers into Danse's, unashamed of the way that Sturges looked down when I did. He actually gave a small grin.

"I'll leave you two to it." I pulled on Danse's hand, spotting the small blush on his cheeks at our open affection.

"Come on, big guy. Let's actually get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow." And a group that might not be so accepting, I added the thought in my mind, though I wouldn't speak it aloud to ruin the cloud of acceptance that he was clearing riding on.

Honestly, though, seeing how things had worked out with the Minute Men today gave me hope - I was their General, so of course I'd held sway… but the Railroad trusted me, too. I was beginning to think that anything was possible.

Instead of worrying about the things that I couldn't change, I decided to worry about the fact that I was about to take Danse up to my bedroom for the first time. I'd never designed the bunker at Sanctuary with a companion in mind - when I'd made it, I think I was grieving more than anything. I'd spent hours gathering up supplies, pieces of wood. Toys... anything that I could, including the You're Special! Book that I'd found hidden under Shaun's broken dresser.

I'd repaired the dresser, too. The upper floor of my little bunker was split into two rooms. One was mine... but one was for the son that I was never going to bring home. I'd told Danse about Shaun on the way here, but letting him see physical evidence of the pain that I was clearly feeling was something altogether different.

Even I wasn't sure that I wanted to see the room. I could still remember having to call Silas over to put together his crib, because he'd just done it himself, and he knew how. We'd laughed that day, and ended up twined in each other's arms.

When I'd put the crib back together, the threat of tears had been a very real thing. I was worried that looking back into that room now, knowing that I would never have that happiness... I was worried that it would finally break me in some way.

But it couldn't. I wouldn't let it - Danse was here, and I wasn't going to break down now. Instead, I turned to him with a full lipped smile. "Sorry if the house seems small - I didn't know I was going to have company."

He chuckled at me, his brown eyes soft. "I would hope that you weren't expecting any." I grinned, tugging on his hand and leading him back to my little bunker.

I only hesitated at the stairs for a minute, letting a slow breath spill from my chest. "So... when I made this place, I still thought..." I trailed off.

"Quinn, it's all right." He pulled me up the stairs, going ahead of me. I actually heard a door closing, and I realized what he had done before I made it up the stairs. The room that I had been so afraid to face, the room that I was worried would bring tears… he'd closed the door. "You've let me see so much of your past - we don't have to look anymore." His eyes flickered to my bed instead, and there was a soft, sweet smile on his features. "Let's look to the future instead. Today gave me hope that we can really do this - that I can do anything with you by my side." He took my both of my hands now, arms slipping around me to pull me against the warmth of his body. "You've spent so much time taking care of me - let me take care of you for once."

I didn't resist - I let him pull me against his chest and welcomed the warm slant of his mouth covering my own. His tongue was a sweet lure of peace, his arms slipping beneath my shirt the promise of a night full of fire. I let him pull me to the bed, and I didn't look back at that blue door… because really, it had been closed all along, and there was no opening it again.


	17. Chapter 17

**POV - Danse**

Quinn woke before me the next morning, but he didn't try to slip out of bed without rousing me for once. Instead, he turned and snuggled against my chest, his arms wrapping tight around my frame. I could see through the few holes in the wall that the sun was just peaking above the horizon - that was our queue to move out, whether we wanted to or not. I shifted, pressing my lips to Quinn's forehead. "I believe you have an underground organization to lead us to, Quinn. You should get up. We need to move out."

He murmured something against my chest, inaudible, and then slowly lifted his head. "Early bird." It was an accusation, but it was backed with a smile. The soft, half asleep look in his green eyes made my chest warm, stole away the fret that things weren't going to run as smoothly for our next stop as they did for this one.

"A good soldier is always up and ready whenever action calls," I could hear the official tone spilling back into my voice, even though I wasn't a man who held the rank for it anymore. But maybe… maybe that would change. With Quinn in my arms, I couldn't help but to feel hope.

It took us less than a half hour to get everything ready and packed, our ammo restocked, and as many stimpaks as could fit stuffed into our bags. Normally, I wouldn't have worried about medical supplies so much, but…

Well, it was Quinn. And he had a funny way of getting into trouble. We left Sanctuary Hills with the Minute Men giving Quinn a salute, and him casually smiling back. He'd told me that he'd never thought himself a General - that he'd always be happy to be a Lieutenant, to follow the man whose name he couldn't say. I couldn't help but to wonder if that was part of what had drawn him to me - an authoritative figure who could make him feel…

I didn't think too hard on it. I wasn't upset that Quinn still had fond memories of his former love and life - if anything, I thanked the man with no name, because he'd kept Quinn safe until fate could deliver him to me.

If I was being honest with myself, it wasn't as though Quinn was the only one who had someone influential in his past. I'd never confessed my feelings to Cutler, but I think that both of us had felt more than we let on.

I had to push back the thought of wondering if he'd ever really existed at all to me, or if that was just a memory that the Institute had planted into my mind. It wasn't something that I needed to worry about, and the way that I'd felt for him...

It didn't matter anymore.

Instead, I focused on our surroundings. It was a trek to the location of the Railroad hideout, and Quinn seemed a bit anxious about our arrival. I knew that it wasn't out of fear of repercussions for asking their help, but the fact that he was taking me straight to them. We'd discussed leaving me outside, but he wanted to show that he trusted me completely.

I just hoped that they didn't decide the best solution to his trust, properly placed or not, was to open fire on us. I didn't want to worry about being a shield for him. I was having enough trouble coming to terms with the fact that I was going to the Railroad for help. Maxon had spoken more than once about finding their headquarters and wiping them off of the face of the Commonwealth - at the time, I'd agreed with him. Now, I wasn't sure what I felt. All of those meetings that had been held in privy in his room on the Prydwen, with his most elite Paladins sitting around his small table... that world seemed a thousand years behind me. I knew that those words that we'd spoken with conviction were wrong - and I was beginning to wonder if Maxon had ever been right at all. Even his speech about helping the Commonwealth was on the wings of hatred, and it wasn't something that I could support anymore.

Not with a man like Quinn by my side.

Not with the lives that ended up being lost in the wake of that emotion.

It was time to change - presenting myself to the Railroad, with arms wide open and unarmed was the best thing that I could think to do. I was going to tell them everything ; about Maxon's desire to take them out, about the fact that we were trying to make a change. If the members of the Railroad and the Brotherhood could find some sort of careful peace...

It was hard to think about - I couldn't fathom it. Though I'd decided to change my mind, coming to terms with the fact that the synths and their supporters weren't the enemy was still difficult. But... could an organization that would have helped me escape Maxon's clutches, could have possibly protected Haylen, had they known the circumstances... could they really be all that bad?

I wasn't sure. All that I knew was that I trusted Quinn, and he seemed to think that this was the solution. I'd seen him around with Deacon before - the man was nothing less than a perfect liar… of _course_ I didn't trust him.

But I was going to have to start, and soon. The Old Church stood in front of us, and I could feel my stomach twisting in knots.

"Maybe step out of the Power Armor before we start down the tunnels, big guy." Quinn's voice was soft, and I could see something close to anxiety behind his gaze. Still, he turned and offered me a full lipped grin, as though he wasn't worried at all. I loved him for the fact that he would swallow his own fears and emotions in an attempt to quell the swirling storm that was building in my chest.

The old church didn't look to be anything special - there was actually something brilliant and quite tactical about it. There wasn't even the appeal of loot and supplies in the broken remnants of the house of worship. It was only through a door located in the back that gave promise of something else. Quinn waited for me to step out of my Power Armor, closing the door carefully behind us so that the metal suit wouldn't be sitting in the open like a temptation for anyone who passed by.

When he held out his hands, I knew what he wanted. It was with reluctance that I passed over Righteous Authority - he pulled the straps of the holster over his shoulders, and I was forced to realize how much smaller than me he was - the leather hung loose around his chest. I hid a soft smile, but I welcomed the sensation of fondness that spilled through my chest and momentarily stole away my anxiety. With a slow nod, Quinn took my hand, his fingers closing firmly against my own.

It was only through my nerves that I registered him moving around my body, so that his left hand held my own, and his right hand was still free to draw a gun if necessary. There was something comforting and nerve-inducing at the same time to see him preparing for the worst.

We walked down the hallway in silence, and I could see the littered bodies of ghouls, their prior deterioration making it impossible to know how long they'd been dead. Since the holes in their bodies were from smaller caliber bullets, I had to wonder if it had been Quinn who put them down to begin with.

I think I was just trying to distract myself with thoughts of anything that I could, because we turned another corner and I could see light coming from a hole in the wall that had clearly been sealed up at one point. It took me a second to realize that there was a figure standing in the entrance. My fingers twitched in the desire to grab my rifle, but Quinn took a step in front of me instead, keeping out fingers linked even as a gun raised.

"What are you doing, bringing Captain Clang here..." I recognized Deacon's voice, and I heard the pause in his question. "And where is his Power Armor, I don't think that I've ever seen him out of it?"

There was silence for a moment, and I knew that Quinn was trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. After a second, he gave my fingers a gentle squeeze. "Honestly, Deacon, we're both here for help. Danse isn't..." I could almost feel the tension running through his body, and even though he stood behind me, I could see the downturned corners of his mouth. "He isn't a part of the Brotherhood anymore."

"You're kidding me - you've got to be, Quinn. This guy bleeds steel, he wouldn't turn his back on them." Deacon's gun was still raised, and I couldn't read his expression behind the dark lenses of his glasses. "Whatever he's here for, you can bet it's a trick by that jackass Maxon. You should get out of here before Desdemona sees you here and shoots you both."

The gun in his fingers never wavered, and Quinn's voice came out a shade louder. "We can't, Deacon. It's not a trick. Maxon is out of control, and Danse..." His head shook back and forth slowly, but he spilled my secret for me - I'd been determined to tell Preston Garvey myself, but maybe it would come better from Quinn in this situation. "When I infiltrated the Institute, I pulled the information off of their terminals." He paused, as though waiting to see if Deacon drew the conclusion before he finished the sentence. After a few moments of silence, he continued. "It had a list of synths in the Commonwealth, identified by genetic code." Quinn gave my hand another squeeze. "Deacon, Danse was on that list."

There was a moment of silence, and then my spine prickled in irritation as Deacon burst into laughter.

"Oh, that's fucking rich. Pet Paladin of the Prydwen is a synth?"

I could see the way that the muscles between Quinn's shoulders knotted, and his voice was cool when he spoke. "That's not helpful, Deacon. It's been shit for him - Maxon's tried to kill us both. He did kill..." His voice dropped a bit, "He killed our friend, because she helped Danse." Deacon's laughter was slowly trailing off, and I could see his expression becoming more serious as the seconds passed and Quinn spoke. "If we don't do something soon, he's going to turn into a tyrant that we can't control. He wants to make some fucked up Death Bot that can take out the entire Institute. What do you think that will do to a place like this?"

The line of Deacon's lips were completely serious now, pressed tight. "I see your point. But what makes you think that we can trust Paladin Perfect here... I've only known him as a Brotherhood Brat."

"The Brotherhood as it stands now is not the Brotherhood that I signed up for." My voice was short, clipped, but honest. "We aren't helping people - we're only helping Maxon further his agenda of hatred. It has to end." I pulled my words back, but I stepped forward so that I wasn't hidden behind Quinn anymore. I had to be able to stand on my own two feet, even now.

Deacon looked me over for a moment, and then he holstered his gun. With his hands freed, he ran digits through his hair, and then pulled off his sunglasses so that, for the first time, I was fixed with his piercing gaze.

"Des isn't going to believe this. You better let me do the talking, tin can. Maybe, if we're lucky, I can at least convince them not to shoot you on the spot." I bristled at the insult, but something in my chest that had been tight was starting to loosen, because he gestured us forward. It took me a second to realize that he'd decided to _help us_ , and another second to realize that Quinn was tugging on my hand, pulling me forward, giving me my first glimpse of the Railroad Headquarters. All eyes turned instantly in our direction, smiles fading away as they realized Quinn was accompanied by someone. A harsh, clipped voice spilled out, and a woman stepped forward. Her gun was leveled square at my head, and I felt the tension that been loosening spill back into my body in a wave.

"Deacon, Quinn… what in the fuck do you think you're doing? Why is **he** here?" Desdemona - the leader of the Railroad. Her eyes were cold and full of hatred as she fixed me with her gaze, and I was left staring down the barrel of a gun, with a half dozen others pointed at me. I felt like a molerat who'd wandered into a Deathclaws nest - dead meat.

From the look on Desdemona's face, I wasn't too far off.


	18. Chapter 18

POV - Quinn

I'd expected hostility, but I wasn't expecting a gun pointed in our direction. "Desdemona, I can explain-"

She jerked the gun up again, her eyes narrowed and full of fury. "There's no explanation for bringing one of those Brotherhood dogs here. I knew that you were still associating with them, but I didn't realize that you were going to go so far as to betray us, Charmer." She used my assigned code name, and I felt my heart leap into my throat. I'd hoped that she would at least listen, let me explain...

"Woah, Des." Deacon's laid-back tone took me off guard - almost as much as him stepping between Desdemona and myself... between Desdemona and Danse. "You gotta hear these two out. It's not what you think." The Railroad leader's furious glare stayed intact, but she didn't jerk the gun again.

"Deacon, are you vouching for him? Again?" I remembered the way that he'd stood up for me before - his earlier callous tone with Danse had left me with little confidence that he'd do so again - of course, it was smart to never assume I could read Deacon.

"Just listen, Des. We've wanted a way into the Brotherhood for how long, now?" I felt Danse tense beside me. He wasn't going to let the Railroad into the Brotherhood without quarter. "But maybe there's another way. See, the Paladin here," He stepped back, putting a hand on Danse's shoulder. My ex-Paladin was still tense, but he didn't jerk away. "Guess what he is?"

"Deacon?" Desdemona's voice was a warning - no games. Deacon grinned, clearly telling her that games were what he did best.

"He's a Synth. Even he didn't know - I'm guessing the Institute was using him to see if they could infiltrate the Brotherhood ranks." Desdemona's eyes widened, and I could see the disbelief in those hues. Behind that though, a plan was already beginning to formulate, gears cranking. I could see it. "He and Quinn know what Maxon's planning, Des. Imagine if we had the Brotherhood on our side, with Maxon out of the picture. Imagine what we could do." There was excitement in Deacon's voice, none of the malice from earlier. Honestly, even though he'd told me I was the only friend he had... I still couldn't read the man.

"If what you're saying is true, and I'm not saying I believe that Brotherhood Bastard for a moment, this could mean..." Desdemona's eyes were alight with possibility.

"We plan on bringing the Brotherhood under a new regime." My voice spilled out, full of cool confidence that I didn't feel. "Think of it, Desdemona. If the Brotherhood stood for helping the Commonwealth - all people of the Commonwealth - we could take down the Institute once and for all." I hoped that the lure of the Brotherhood's military skills would help our cause, though I knew that if anything saved us... it was going to be Deacon. He came forward, slipping one arm around my shoulder.

"Quinn's done nothing but right by us, Des. He came and told us before the Brotherhood was going to infiltrate the Institute, didn't he? C'mon, you can't start pointing guns at good ol' Charmer now." The only thing that gave way to the fact that he was nervous about the outcome of the situation was the tightness of his fingers against my upper arm.

"Okay then, synth. What is your designation?" Desdemona's voice was testing, still full of mistrust and malice. Beside me, Danse radiated a mixture of irritation and stress.

"M7-97. My purpose for coming to the Commonwealth is unclear, even to me." His voice was stiff, and I could tell that his level of acceptance was being tried yet again - this was an altogether different situation, though. I couldn't fault him for being uncomfortable around Desdemona and the rest of the Railroad... especially since they still had guns trained on him.

"How do I know I can trust you?" She stepped forward, and I could see that her gaze was all for my ex-Paladin now. Danse, however, stood tall in front of her. His strength and pride even in a situation like this caused my stomach to twist with a mixture of love and desire - inappropriate for the situation, perhaps. But it was there.

"You don't. It's as simple as that - if I were still with the Brotherhood, this would be a perfect opportunity to infiltrate your base and take out your main sources of organization." My eyes widened - this was not the way to win over the people. "The fact of the matter is, I'm not with the Brotherhood... and..." Danse's gaze swept around to take in the Railroad Headquarters. Mattresses, people milling, just trying to do their best to help others get by, "Though you seem protective of your people, I can see that you're doing your best to get by here. If you had found me instead of the Brotherhood, who am I to know if my programming," he spat out the word like a filthy thing, "Wouldn't have had me just as loyal to you as I was to Maxon. At least, your discovery of my true identity wouldn't have resulted in ostracization and termination. Maxon sent Quinn to kill me." Danse's voice was soft, but there was a steely reserve in the tone that made my chest swell.

"Desdemona," I interjected, pulling away from Deacon's embrace and carefully threading my fingers through Danse's own. I held his hand tight, and I did it so that she could see. "I don't know if there's a test that you can do to see that we're telling the truth about him, but Danse is a synth." I frowned, and I caught her gaze completely. "And he's the man that I love." Something flickered in her eyes - I'd always suspected that Desdemona had a past with a synth, that her reason for being so passionate about the Railroad laid entwined in pain and loss. "I love him. I trust him." I took a slow and steady breath, "And I thought you trusted me."

I stood there before her, armed with nothing but my confession, my good hand for shooting enclosed in Danse's tight grip. We offered no violence, no retaliation to the guns that were still pointed in our chests. For a long moment, Desdemona stared at us, and I wasn't sure what she was going to choose.

Finally, she lowered her gun. The people around us followed in suit. "Fine. Dr. Carrington has a prototype that we've been wanting to confirm the accuracy of, anyway. It has the capability of detecting the presence of synth components," My mind thought back to all of the settlers than had been killed - the tiny pieces that we'd found, identifying them as Synths. Plastic, undetectable in a scan.

"How does it work?" My voice was cautious, and I watched as Carrington stepped forward.

"I've found a way to introduce a scanner into the actually process. It picks up the wavelengths that the Institute has programmed into their synths. We actually managed to produce this from the information that you brought back to us on that Holotape."

Danse didn't look at me - his face was straight forward, his shoulders rigid. I didn't know how he felt about this at all, but he didn't stop Carrington as he stepped forward, a small metal scanner in his hand.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt." At least I trusted Desdemona enough to think that she wouldn't let Danse be hurt this way - though maybe it was more Deacon that I had trust in. Regardless, I felt his hand on my shoulder in soft assurance, and Danse didn't move as the metal passed from the base of his neck along his spine.

For a moment, there was silence. I could see Desdemona's finger still on the trigger of the gun that she no longer held on us. I knew that, if Maxon had somehow been wrong about Danse, we were both going to die here.

"He's a synth." The words were breathed out, and I saw something pass through Danse. I think a part of him had been hoping that Maxon was wrong, too. A part of him had been hoping that he was still human. His fingers in mine tightened, and he turned his cool brown gaze to meet my own. I offered a soft smile.

"You're a man, Danse." My words were a gentle murmur, soft enough that only he and I, Deacon and the good doctor could hear. I turned to look at Desdemona. "Do you see? Why would I lie to you, Desdemona? We both want the same thing - peace for the Commonwealth. As long as the factions fight, that's never going to happen, and you know it."

Her lips pursed, as though me telling her the truth was irritating. I was hoping that it was simply the fact that she'd clearly over reacted in the situation. Whatever it was, she took a few quick strides forward, craning her neck to look at Danse. "If you betray us, there's no goddamn blimp in the sky that will keep you or the people that you care about safe, you got that?"

Menacing, but it almost seemed like Danse understood where she was coming from. His posture was rigid, his eyes fixated on hers. "I don't intend to betray anyone. I want what's best for the people - I want what the Brotherhood stood for, before Maxon corrupted it." Danse wanted an idea of peace, and I could only hope that we could achieve that together.

Desdemona stood in front of him, as though weighing her options for a moment. Finally, she nodded. There was no warm handshake, no welcoming into the folds like Preston had done for him, but she turned her back to him and gave a jerk of her head.

"Come on in then, we've got a lot to discuss."

Danse slid me a sidelong glance; I shrugged. Honestly, this could have gone a lot worse, and I wasn't about to spit in the face of whatever hospitality Desdemona was giving us.

Following my lead, Danse and I stepped into the depths of the Railroad headquarters.

Over the next hour Danse and I spoke in length to Desdemona and the highest ranking members of the Railroad. I told them about the Liberty Prime project, and in turn, they told me about the information that they'd gotten on the Brotherhood - it seemed that Desdemona had been worried about things long before I'd brought it to her attention that Maxon was corrupt. She'd asked me more than once to stop working with them - I'd always been adamant that I couldn't just turn my back on them. The solid warmth of fingers in my own was the reason why. They'd realized all along that Maxon was up to something, and the Liberty Prime robot was a perfect example of why they couldn't be allowed to continue on. Whatever Maxon's plans were, having a death bot at his beck and call didn't seem to be a very good thing. I'd seen the raving insanity in his eyes - and I knew what he was capable of doing, even to his own people. It wasn't a power that he needed to possess.

I was hesitant, but honest about the fact that I'd helped acquire the parts to make the project a reality. I could see the annoyance in Desdemona's eyes, but I'd never been anything other than honest with her. She had always known that I was loyal to the Brotherhood - it was only now, as I sat in front of her with Danse's hand still in my own that she was beginning to understand why. I could see her gaze flick down to our interlocked fingers over and over again, and it made the question in my mind burn deeper about _why_ the significance of my love for a synth seemed to be so important to her. It was Desdemona's story to tell though, and I wasn't sure that it was something she would ever open up about. For now, I would just be thankful that it seemed to give her enough of a reason to listen to us - maybe, eventually, it would give her enough of a reason to trust us. Even if our plan to overthrow the Brotherhood came to fruition, nothing would come of it if we couldn't establish a real pattern of trust.

"I think that we need to have a show of force, of solidarity." I didn't look at Danse as I spoke this time, because I was finally letting my thoughts be a reality. "I don't think that we're going to convince Maxon to change his mind, but I think that we can make an impact on the rest of the Brotherhood. Some of them are still loyal to Danse." I gave his fingers a squeeze, "Imagine what it would mean if the Brotherhood had a synth for their Elder, Des. Imagine what it would mean for the Railroad - you wouldn't have to hide like this anymore."

Desdemona's gaze was fixed on me, and I could tell that she was trying to sess out how much of this was truth, and how much of it was an empty promise. If I had my way, none of it would be empty.

"Do you really think that you can pull this off?"

"There's protocol for challenging the Elder for his position. Combat, the support of the rest of the Brotherhood... it's complicated, but it's something that is capable of being accomplished." Danse's voice was oddly formal - I could only imagine it was because of his discomfort. Desdemona didn't make us feel welcome, even though it was clear that she was at least on board with stopping Maxon from unleashing Liberty Prime.

"And you think that you can accomplish this?" Her voice was haughty, challenging.

"I think if we show up with a united front from all of the factions of the Commonwealth, it's going to make a point. The Minute Men are already joining us." My voice was firm - she'd yet to say that she'd actually help us, at least how we wanted to be helped.

She sat back in her chair, her eyes looking around. Finally, they slid back to me. "You're really in love with a synth, aren't you Charmer?" I opened my mouth to give affirmation, but she held up a hand. "It's the only reason that I could see you being so damn passionate about something that could get us all killed." Slowly, a smile spread her features. "Fine. You can have Glory and Deacon - but only if they want to go with you. I won't send any of my people into this potential death trap against their will."

Glory had the sense to look a bit affronted, but Deacon grinned. "You know I'm in for it, bud." With a chuckle, he turned to Danse. "Sorry about being so hard on you earlier, tin-can. You never know who you can trust." He winked, and I could have hit him. That was the lesson he'd been trying to give me all along - I didn't realize that maybe he was just trying to go down the same path with Danse. I wondered, was deception the only way that Deacon knew how to get closer to people?

"If you truly think this will unite the Commonwealth and help to stop the Institute from their tyranny, then I will accompany you for the mission. We could use another faction backing us up when we face the Institute." Glory's voice was hesitant, but there was soft conviction behind it. She'd been acting differently since we'd acquired the body of her friend for Curie - the looks she gave, the way that there always seemed to be a question on the tip of her tongue that she wouldn't ask. I couldn't help but to wonder if Glory and the woman whose body Curie now possessed had been involved - asking that would be far too painful though; I couldn't imagine Danse dying, only to have someone completely different inhabit his body. If Glory and the synth who was now Curie had been involved… the woman that she knew was gone, but a constant reminder of that loss was walking and smiling with a sweet french accent. My heart twisted at what was just a possibility - one of dozens of horrors that should have never taken place to begin with.

It was the Institute that made all of these painful realities tangible - my _son_ made all of these terrors a waking nightmare. I had to stop him.

We had to stop him. A small part of me was exhausted to know that dealing with Maxon was only the first of so many problems… but I'd just take them as they came. With Danse beside me, at least I knew that I wouldn't be doing it alone. Then again, Decon was a warm presence at my back, Preston a soft smile in the shades of my mind. Even Nick's fervent agreeance to help me spilled through my memory. No - Danse I weren't alone in this. United, we could conquer any adversary. We were all on the same page, and it was time to finally make our stand.


	19. Chapter 19

**POV: Danse**

I understood why we needed to speak with Nick Valentine again, even though my nerves were already beating against my senses. I wanted to take action - I wanted to move. I'd never been one to stay stationary, even when it was requested of me. I could remember when I'd first been evaluated as unfit to go out into the field - Cade commed me into his office with a recommendation.

Something about PTSD. Something about the fact that I had nightmares, that I was hyper-alert. He recommended that I stay active on the Prydwen while I underwent treatment. I'd gone against recommendation and orders, and Maxon had allowed me off of the ship with my Squad, to find Recon Team Artemis. Of course, we didn't find them - no one did until I'd started running with Quinn. He'd found them all... and only Brandis had been alive to tell the tale when we brought him back to the ship.

Even then though, against medical orders, I'd wanted to move. It was the same now. I knew that we were about to start something, and sitting on the edge of it was driving me mad. But Quinn was insistent that we talk to Nick Valentine first, see if he'd come up with any information. I still needed to get into contact with Rhys - I needed to know who in the Brotherhood supported our cause, and who didn't.

And then I had to find a way to get into contact with Maxon. We weren't going to simply storm the Boston Airport and demand his presence - I didn't want to start some all out war that would result in good men and women on both sides of the lines dying. If there was a way to handle this with a measure of diplomacy, we would - that was, after all, why we'd gathered the support of all of the factions in the Commonwealth. We wanted to show them that we could stand united.

I just had a feeling that Maxon was going to be adverse to even letting the plan get off of the ground. I only hoped that there were people reasonable enough to speak with, people who would help us within the ranks of the Brotherhood itself.

We needed to talk to Nick, and then I needed to talk to Rhys.

Today was a day to put into action all of the threads that we'd been casting out... and now that it was here, I was both anxious for it to start, and terrified of what would happen when we let that dam break.

Thankfully, Diamond City wasn't too far of a trek from the Railroad Headquarters, and Deacon and Glory decided to accompany us on our trip. The sooner we could pick up our information and organize a meeting with Maxon, the better. With the threat of Liberty Prime on the horizon, it wasn't as though we could simply take our time, anyway. I wasn't sure how long Maxon would hold out before he decided to carry on with his plan, with or without Quinn.

Since we'd managed to thwart him from some kind of assassination attempt on me, I'd say that Quinn's presence was becoming less and less necessary for Maxon to carry out his designs. The only reason that he'd probably held his word so far was because multiple people had heard him promise Quinn a place on the team that infiltrated the Institute. A lot of the Brotherhood members knew what was at stake for him... and it was that knowledge alone that was buying us any time now.

I think that Quinn knew this too, because we weren't careful when we moved. There was no stealth, no careful footing. There was only a rush of bullets and a few discarded stimpaks.

Diamond City came into view, and I found myself once more wishing that there was something that we could do for them now. They were holed up behind the walls, with a leader who was more interested in his image than their safety and comfort.

I knew that the Mayor of Diamond City didn't have his resident's best interest at heart - of course, I wasn't the best judge of character. I'd truly thought that Maxon cared about the people of the Commonwealth. At least I was certain about my assessment of this, if for no reason other than the fact that Quinn agreed with me.

I think the only reason that he'd bought property in the city at all was because this was our central hub for trading and purchasing necessary equipment. Even when we hit the city, with the Guards staring dubiously at Glory and Deacon, we went straight to the vendors. Arturo was, as always, glad to see us. We always came in with new munitions and armor for him to sell, and he always had a nice stash of caps set aside just for the occasions. Between those, 10mm bullets, and stimpaks, we always managed to even the trade out.

What we didn't expect, when we headed back to Nick's agency, was to see a particular ghoul leaning against his doorway, a cig held between his lips and a sparkle of mischief and interest in his dark eyes.

He spoke smoothly around the cylinder - of course, Hancock always managed to sound smooth when he spoke. "You didn't think that you'd get to go off and wage a war against the Brotherhood of Steel without me, did you?" His words were for Quinn, and I saw it when the man beside me let a small smile of affection flick across his features. I knew that he spoke with Hancock, associated with him. He'd usually done so when I was reporting at the Prydwen or working on another assignment... but I'd known. What shocked me was when the ghoul turned to me, one hand coming to his hat to tip it.

"I always knew there was something different about you, Danse." He grinned, and I felt my face flushing in irritation - ghouls... "No wonder you're one-hundred percent hunk." And the irritation turned into a flustered blush - I found myself completely unsure of what to say. I wasn't going to apologize to Hancock for my bad behavior towards him, because I'd never really interacted with him. Quinn had made sure that we weren't forced to. My behavior towards synths had been called into question already...

Did that mean that I needed to question my opinions on all of the beings in the Commonwealth, Hancock included? Even though he was uncouth and a drug addict... I also knew that he did everything that he could (sometimes to the extreme) to take care of his people. I wasn't sure...

While these thoughts ran through my head, Quinn and he began to converse.

"What do you mean, without you?" Quinn came forward, and held his hand out to shake Hancocks. The red-coated ghoul sidestepped his hand and wrapped him in a hug instead. My hackles rose for a completely different reason.

"Well, if you want to show a united force, then don't you think that you should include a proper representative of Goodneighbor. Besides, if you want to show those Brotherhood bastards," he instantly turned his gaze to me and grin, "Current company excluded, then you need to show them that hatred in any sense of the word isn't accepted." Hancock looked around, turning his head down when one of the guards strolled by. His voice came out softer, and I knew why - Diamond City was a ghoul-free zone. "Do you know how hard it was for me to even slip in here? Maybe we can really make a difference, Quinn." Only when the footsteps of the guard had faded away did he raise his gaze again - it was the hope in his eyes that caught me, that burrowed into my chest. Hope, not just for himself, but for the future.

It was the same hope that I'd thought Maxon held in his eyes; I didn't know if I could trust it, but I could see that Quinn did by the smile on his full lips. At the approach of more footsteps, Hancock quickly ushered us inside. "C'mon, Nicky's waiting."

Nicky. Hm. Wasn't the ghoul just on good terms with everyone? Still, I followed him inside, close behind Quinn. The door drew shut just as the footsteps moved to turn the corner. Inside, Nick Valentine was sitting at his desk, and the yellow glow of his eyes didn't send a chill of disgust down my spine when I saw him.

It was almost odd. I was standing in a room with a synth and a ghoul, and I wasn't opening fire. There was a moment of almost dissociation with myself - this wasn't the Paladin Danse that I'd known only a few months ago. This wasn't the man that I'd thought I was for most of my life. I wasn't anything like what I'd expected...

And I didn't expect to be so okay with it. There was something almost natural and relieving about standing in the room with this particular group, and when Hancock held his hand out to shake mine, I was surprised at the way my fingers stretched forward and fit against his skin. The roughness of his palm was oddly comforting, and a low heat spilled from his flesh and into my own. The Paladin that I'd been before would have recoiled, brought a gun up and threatened the ghoul.

The man that I was now let me keep my hand in his, until he let out a suggestive little quip about where I could use my strong grip. Only then did I pull back, and it was with my cheeks fully red. Quinn instantly stretched his fingers out and twined them in my own, but I could hear the laughter in his voice as he spoke - it was almost nice. The dark air of earlier was being chased around by the mirth in the room...

Glory, of course, decided to kill it.

"We aren't here to laugh. We're here to plan a war."

"Killjoy." Deacon and Hancock spoke together, and I saw the smile split their features when they did. Glory simply scowled. I couldn't help but to feel sympathize with her - this was a serious situation, but I understood what the men were doing. They didn't want to focus on the serious nature of what laid ahead - the inevitable fact that, if we did end up going to war with Maxon, there would be casualties.

Haylen's face flashed across my mind, and I had to amend myself. There had already been casualties. This /was/ war. Maxon had been the one who fired the first shot.

"What did you find out, Nick?" I let my voice carry a command that I didn't feel anymore, but it brought everyone to attention. I felt Quinn's fingers tighten in my own, and he turned his attention to the detective in front of us. Nick gave a slow smile.

"I didn't find out anything interesting about Maxon, but I did manage to set you up a meeting with him. I wasn't sure if you were going to be ready or not, but I hoped." Doubt instantly flashed through my mind.

"How did you manage that?" I couldn't see Maxon making a deal with Nick Valentine for any reason - he'd probably shoot him on sight, if Quinn weren't there to witness it and complain.

Nick grinned for a moment, and then the yellow of his eyes flared bright. When he spoke, it was Quinn's voice that came from his lips. "Paladin Danse is with me - need to discuss terms with you. You were right, Elder. Permission to schedule a meeting between you, the Paladins on the ship, and anyone else you deem important. I have information on the Institute that could prove vital to our cause, thanks to the synth."

Even though it wasn't Quinn's voice that spoke, hearing the way that he phrased 'synth' made my heart sink in my chest. I couldn't stop the frown that graced my features, but it was Quinn who spoke.

"And he believed that?"

"I sent it to him via a holotape - your meeting is scheduled for three days from now. The worst that will happen if you aren't ready is that the Brotherhood will be taken for fools. Better still, Maxon's agreed to meet somewhere other than the Prydwen - the ruins of the CIT building. It's neutral territory, and I already have some people scouting it out. There's no ambush so far." Nick sounded pleased with himself, and honestly, I was impressed.

"Hey, don't forget to say where you got the scouts from," Hancock gave Nick a nudge in the ribs, and the detective gave him a reproachful gaze.

"Hancock heard about what was happening and offered his services. It's his people who are keeping a lookout." My mind was already turning though. Three days, that was enough time to get into contact with Rhys, and to figure out our plans.

Quinn seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he gave my fingers a tight squeeze. "That sounds perfect. It's settled then - Hancock, you and Deacon and Glory go ahead to the meeting site. Danse and I have to go and talk to a contact at the Cambridge Police Station and pick up Preston. We'll all meet up at the Ruins before the meeting. If anything goes wrong," He fished into his pocket, and pulled out a flare gun. "Shoot this off." He handed it to Hancock after a moment of thought, much to Deacon's chagrin. I knew that the flare gun was linked with the Minute Men, and Quinn's settlements - word would get to us, if it went off. Honestly, it was a brilliant plan. "We'll rest here tonight, and get started early morning. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded, and I could sense the seriousness pouring through the room. The frivolity from earlier had faded, and it was replaced with a grave air of knowledge that things were happening, and there was no way to stop it now. Quinn fished into his pockets, pulling out enough caps for Glory and Deacon to get a room - Hancock refused, saying that he'd be staying with a very disgruntled looking Nick until nightfall when he could safely sneak from the City.

"Where are you staying?" Deacon's voice was lilted as he spoke, and full of question. Quinn smiled softly, "I have a room. We should all get one last night of good rest, before everything goes to Hell." And I heard it in the tone of his voice - one last night, before we went to war. Before there was a chance we'd never get another. His fingers tightened in mine, and he cast me a slow glance. His green eyes were burning, full of something more than just fear. It made my stomach knot, my insides squirm in pleasure and anxiety all at once.

Quinn looked at me like this could be one of our last nights together, and it was clear that he was going to make it count.


	20. Chapter 20

Part 20

POV Quinn

There were things in my life that left my chest full of regret and my head full of nightmares that wracked my body like lances of agony over every nerve that I possessed. Those things had faces and names, and were usually in relation to something that I hadn't done... that I hadn't been able to do.

I had regret for the fact that I'd never gotten one last kiss from Nora and Silas. I'd been waiting for them to join me in Sanctuary Hills, and when the bombs had dropped, I knew they'd never come. Even climbing into the damn cryo container that they'd passed off as a decontamination center, I'd regretted so fucking fiercely the fact that I hadn't stayed with them, that I hadn't insisted they come to Sanctuary sooner.

I'd regretted it, and it had haunted my nightmares with hard, accusing eyes and my heart being ripped out a thousand times over with the knowledge that they were dead and I would never see them again.

Regret washed over me for the fact I'd never stood up to my father, that I had let him do the things that he'd done to me, and I hadn't had the strength to speak against him.

I regretted that I'd ran out ahead of Silas one day on the battlefield, and he'd had to take a damn missile to the face to save me. My foolhardy attitude left permanent scars across his gorgeous visage.

I regretted that I hadn't had a chance to kiss across those sweet lines, proof that he would lay his life down to save mine, one last time.

Regret was my constant companion, and I was so fucking tired of being buried under the weight of it all - I was damn sure not going to add another regret to that list. War never changed - it was full of loss and death, and if I had to die when we faced Elder Maxon, I was going to do it with the taste of Danse's kiss on my lips, and my body sore from making love to him.

I wasn't going to have any regrets. Not this time.

This soft determination led me to my room at Home Plate - this time, I had no intention of it being something that burned and overwhelmed us both. I wanted it to be as important to him as it was me - I wanted him to know that this was because I loved him. Because I wanted him... because he was my heart, and I wanted to fill myself with him before we went off to war.

I wanted him to know that no matter the outcome of the next few days, I would have chosen him a thousand times over. I would have always chosen this moment for us. It was unerring and infallible - I was meant for this.

For him.

"Quinn?" His voice held a question, but there was a sweet darkness to it that let me know he could sense my intentions. More than that, his fingers tightened in my own. He _could_ sense my intentions, and there was no protest to them.

I'd been half afraid that he'd insist we get a good night's rest - that there were things far more important than a night of passion that we should be attending to.

There was no protest. No denying me my desires. There was only his hand tight in my own, and the knowledge that his golden brown eyes were swirling liquid molten with the same need that was pooling deep in my chest, and bringing my breath harder than it should have been from simply walking from Nick's Agency to the door of Home Plate.

It took me a second to rifle through my possessions for the key, and when I found it, my fingers were trembling. There was something hot and burning in my chest, and I couldn't completely understand it. I'd felt this way a few times before, but I hadn't expected to feel it now.

In my hand, Danse's palm was hot. It was a sweet line of warmth that ran along the length of my body, like his fingers were somehow stroking at my nerves already. I wanted to say something - I wanted to say _everything_ , but I just wasn't sure how to begin. I wasn't even sure if words could really do justice to the feelings that were swirling inside of me.

I knew, though, that even if my words failed me, my actions would not. I was completely convinced that I should show him what I was feeling with lips and teeth and tongue and _passion_.

I just hoped that he wanted this as much as I did - as much as my body was burning for it. It was almost like my brain was demanding affirmation of the fact that I was _alive_ , and I realized that part of me was _frightened_ for what was going to happen within the next few days. I'd lived through the war - I'd live through 200 years of being cryogenically frozen. I didn't want to think that all of it could come to an end now, because I was standing up against a corrupt man, who was impeding a military from functioning as it should.

I didn't want to think that I could have traveled through 200 years to find the man whose hand I was still holding, only to have it ripped away from me so suddenly. All of it was frightening.

All of it was terrifying. I didn't want to regret anything...

"I love you." The words spilled hot from my chest as soon as the door closed behind us, and Danse seemed to have been waiting for that very motion. Whatever confession I was trying to work up to was cut short, because suddenly my body was spinning, and my shoulders were pinned to the bright red door. His mouth was on my own with a sweet, fevered heat that forced him to crane his head down to claim my lips. His tongue was a velvety, probing heat, as though he meant to lick the words that I'd just spoken - the words that I hadn't been able to speak - and drink them down like some elixir.

"I love you, too." The words were gasped out as soon as he pulled from my lips, and I could feel his body pressed along mine in a sweet line of heat. I loved having such perfect access to his frame. He'd stepped into Home Plate to drop off his power armor when we'd first entered Diamond City, and it was a pleasure that the hunk of metal was in the corner, and not impeding my hands from gliding along the tight material of his Flight Suit. But it wasn't enough - I wanted skin to skin. I needed to touch him. I needed to feel him.

I needed him to anchor me to the world.

I think that he felt that same burning need pouring through him, because he pulled me close, his fingers stroking through my hair, down along my shoulders, my back. This wasn't like before, where we'd collapsed against the bed in a wave of heat and _need_. He wasn't charging me this time in a wave of fettered, furious desire. This was something altogether different, and full of desire and passion... and love.

God, but it was full of love, and I thought for a moment that I could simply dissolve beneath the weight of it. Fuck the war - fuck fighting. We could both just exist in the realm of that _love_ , and nothing could touch us.

"Danse..." My voice was low, deep and rumbling in comparison to its usual higher pitch. It was full of the weight of everything that I wanted, everything that I needed. It was full of the gravity of my love and desire for him, and that alone would have been enough to tank a Vertibird to the ground. "I..." How did I tell him what I was feeling? How did I tell him that I wanted this to be _so fucking special_ , because I knew that it could very well be the last time that we were ever able to do this? My lips quivered for a moment under the weight of my emotion... and to my surprise, my sweet man, made of steel... pressed his lips tenderly against my own and _smiled._

"Quinn... just shut up. You think too much." The words that I'd spoken to him when we'd first kissed, sweetly fed back to me and full of _love._ It was nearly enough to make me cry - it did draw a low, warm sound of purring laughter from my chest; it was perfect. This was perfect. _He_ was perfect. _H_ is arms, tight around me, lifted me from the ground and carried me over to the couch sitting in the corner. Apparently, we couldn't make it up the stairs.

I didn't care - I wanted to make love to him on every available surface in the little flat.

My back spilled down against the coolness of the couch, the scent of old leather pouring up and into my nose - but there wasn't time for me to pay attention to much else, because Danse was covering my body with his own, and his fingers were greedily reaching to unzip my uniform. He didn't even spill the zipper completely open before his hands were diving inside of the material, fingers skimming against my chest. It was like he was using the multiple scars as a map of my desire, because each touch that brushed against my flesh elicited a low moan of desire from my chest.

I needed him now, more than I'd ever needed him before. The intensity of the situation, of everything that was happening, of everything that _could_ happen made this so much _more_ than simply fucking. It was like the last, desperate act of two dying men, intending to leave the world ablaze in the wake of their deaths. I think that Danse felt the same intensity that I did, the same need to not regret anything.

I think that we were perfectly in sync.

I knew that before we were done, there was a good possibility that the old springs in the couch would give out, and I didn't care.

My fingers answered the search of his own, snatching and pulling down the zipper of his own suit so that I could gain sweet access to his bare flesh. My head dove forward, my hungry tongue licking along the sweet line of his collarbone before my lips turned upward to latch against his throat. The taste of his pulse under my tongue, thundering harder now from my touch, was the sweetest delicacy that anyone could ask for, and I was completely covetous of the fact that he was mine, that this moment was ours... and that nothing, at least for the moment, could take him away from me.

It was hard to shove his jumper down his body, because he seemed completely unwilling to take his arms from inside of my own clothing. With a small laugh and fevered insistence, I finally managed to pull his hands from my flesh just long enough to push the material from his broad shoulders and off of strong arms.

The instant that I felt the warmth of his skin, bared beneath my fingers and offered up like heaven made real, my body ignited. A low sound poured from my chest, and we were moving. It took all of my strength - I was smaller than him, and I knew it. I even knew that he was stronger than me - that, if he so chose, he could certainly stop me from my desires.

But he didn't. He let out a low, surprised sound, and let me flip his body over so that I was suddenly straddling his lap. The low, moaning purr that poured from his chest told me that he was _happy_ to do it.

For a moment, I sat back on his lap and admired the man in front of me - I should have guessed that he was made from a lab for the simple fact that he was so _perfect_. Even the scar that traced along the planes of his visage only added to that glory. The longer I looked at him, the tighter my chest felt, and the more that I realized exactly _how much_ I loved the man who radiated sweet warmth from every fiber of his being. If nothing else, I could thank my son for the fact that he'd brought Danse into existence, that he'd given me this man...

It was the only good thing that had come from his corruption - but I quickly put the thought of him aside. I wasn't going to let my worries or fears about Shaun ruin this moment. I wasn't going to let anything ruin my worship of my former Paladin.

"Quinn?" Something about my thoughts must have shown in my eyes, and I let my mouth lilt into a slow, easy smile.

"Shh... let me enjoy you for a minute." My words weren't enough of a hush, however. I let myself spill forward, and brought my lips to press gently against his own. Danse tried to lean into the kiss, but I wasn't satisfied with just the feel of his soft petals pressing against my own. I shifted, so that I could kiss along the length of his jawline, before spilling to the scar that was painted across his face. He let out a low sound at the brush of my lips, more gentle than the wings of a butterfly kissing against his features.

I wanted to memorize every inch of his body with my lips - I wanted to taste and touch, lick and lap until there was nothing left of him but a softly trembling mass of need. We had _hours_ \- the entire night.

I wasn't going to waste a minute of it, and I didn't care if we'd both be exhausted in the morning in consequence. We'd both certainly pulled all-nighters before, fighting mutants or ghouls, or a particularly persistent group of raiders.

I thought that learning every curve of each others bodies was a much better reason for that kind of exhaustion. Danse seemed to agree, because his fingers stroked encouraging lines against my shoulders, my cheeks, my neck - anywhere that he could touch. When his hands gently worked to spill my clothing from my shoulders, I didn't fight him. I just kept my mouth working soft against his visage; gentle kisses over his brow, along his cheekbones, two soft presses to either eyelid. I kissed until I was sure that I'd be able to tell his face from the touch of my lips alone, and by the time I was done, Danse had somehow managed to wriggle me completely out of my clothing, so that I was bare where I straddled him.

The cool sting of the air was chased away by the warmth of his arms, and his fingers seemed to have the same desire that my lips did, because he was stroking along the lines of my back, tracing the musculature with slow, near languid touches that made us both shiver in need and delight.

We were both boiling, full of heat... and yet we both took this like a sweet, slow burn. I was glad that Danse and I were so in tune with one another; I was glad that he was letting me take this slow and steady. I pressed one more kiss to his lips, this time in appreciation, and then shifted the trail of my mouth down along his neck. I took time to taste the line where his pulse pounded with my tongue, enjoying the feel of rough, scratchy hair against my cheek. Everything about him was so delicious, so _perfect._

I chased kisses along one side of his throat, up along the front so that my tongue could swipe gently along his Adam's apple, which bobbed as he swallowed hard from my ministrations, and then brought my mouth back up along the other side. Only when I was satisfied that I'd brushed lips to every inch of his neck did I dive downward, paying the same laborious attention to the line of his collar bone, the swell of muscles along his shoulders, the perfect sculpture that was his upper body. He deserved every ounce of my worship.

Danse was a writhing mass of muscle and tremble as I worked my way down his chest, my tongue hungrily licking out to taste the piqued nubs of his nipples. My mouth rocked slowly back and forth along his chest, and when I dipped downward, it seemed that he could no longer stand it. His hands looped beneath my arms and pulled me up, so that my body slid along his own and I was suddenly pressed flush against the expanse of his chest.

His mouth caught against mine in a fevered, hungry kiss - it rocked me to the very core, because I could almost taste the emotion and desperation in it... the need to make this mean something more, something that would survive through another nuclear war, if necessary. We both seemed so starkly aware of our mortality, of the impending threat of what could happen.

And it just made us want each other all the more.

I fed back at his mouth, my tongue hungrily dueling for dominance with his own, like a silk brush painting a masterpiece against the cavern of his mouth. We both pulled back for air at the same time, gasping, aching for _more._ My body was one throb of heat and raw nerves, and I knew that I was going to break if I didn't have him soon.

"Danse..." His name gasped out of my chest, and my fingers worked to easily strip the rest of his uniform from his body, so that it fell in a crumpled heap atop my own. It was what I wanted for our bodies, to be pressed so close together. He didn't stop me when I pushed him back to lay on the couch, and he didn't stop me when I trailed kisses along the line of his torso, my lips finding the upward thrust of his arousal quickly. My eyes rolled up to meet him, and something flashed through his gaze - a low growl, almost feral. He was shifting before I had a chance to realize what he was doing - at first, I thought that he was going to deny me the delicious taste of him. My tongue had rolled a hot, wet line along the slit of his head, and the salty taste of tiny rivulets of precum had already coated my tongue with a promise of his pleasure.

But that wasn't his agenda. He shifted me, rolling my body so that my thighs were suddenly straddling his face - I only had a second to gasp before the warm heat of his mouth enveloped my dick, sucking me down into the depths of his throat and drawing a low, aching cry from my chest.

I buried my face against his pelvis instead of letting that cry hit the air, drawing the stretch of him into my mouth in one long, hard suck that made him cry out against my rigid flesh - the sensation of his moans sent shock waves of pleasure through my entire being, and it was sinful depravity. I wanted to keep my moans for his flesh alone. I wanted his to only touch my skin. I sucked him down hard, bringing him to the back of my throat and swallowing reflexively to squeeze him tight within those warm confines. He cried out again - but instead of stopping his careful ministrations, he echoed my motion, bringing me to the back of his throat and swallowing hard so that an arc of pleasure sizzled through my body, from my pelvis straight to my brain. I writhed above him.

There was something so sensual about this, the way that we fed against one another. When my head bobbed upward, he followed the motion, and when I drank the length of him down until he filled my throat and the pearls of his incoming pleasure painted the roof of my mouth, he followed in suit. Soon, we were one moving mass, one well oiled machine of pleasured moans and ecstasy. We would have made any libertine blush - even my body was warm with flush from the knowledge of what we must have looked like. Two bodies, war scarred and muscled, dewed in perspiration, writhing and moaning and bucking against one another, in an act of desperation and desire to join souls completely, to be a part of one another so wholly that we would never be separated again.

His tongue slipped along the thick vein that traced the bottom of my shaft, trailing a line upward to swipe a tease against my weeping tip - the pleasure of it was nearly enough to drive my head back from his shaft, to make me gasp for air and cry out. I sank down on him instead, bringing him as hard and fast as I could into the back of my throat so that the litany of praise was given with a touch instead of verbally.

Strong arms spilled upward, wrapping around my ass - he pulled me closer to him still, forced me deeper into his throat... and I could feel orgasm coiling and burning in my stomach, threatening to escape. When fingers, so deft and skilled when working at power armor, played gently against the tight ring of muscle that guarded my inner heat... I lost myself. His gentle prod made me scream against his prick, and I felt pleasure burst from my tip just a moment before it ripped through my body and sucked me down.

I didn't know if it was the scream, or the sensation of me flooding his throat with thick ropes of pleasure, but Danse's hips thrust up hard suddenly, and I was gifted the taste of his seed thick on the back of my tongue.

We moved, thrusting, writhing, and feeding on each others pleasure until the world was starbursts and desire. Only when I'd swallowed every last drop of his sweet seed did I collapse against his thigh, my breath coming in hard gasps and my lips swollen from my worship of his length.

"I love you, Quinn. I think I was _made_ to love you." His voice was ragged and yet soft with revelation, as though his words were revealing some great truth to him that he hadn't understood before.

"I love you, too…" I had so many things that I wanted to say, but the waves of pleasure that still rode through me stole my voice. What I _wanted_ was to hold him, and I think that he could sense that - I tried to move, but my body felt liquid. He had more strength than I did, because he shifted, managing to twist my frame around so that I could lay collapsed against his chest. I tried to temper my breathing, but all that I could do was stare at his gorgeous face, his lips just as swollen as my own. I managed to tilt my chin, offer my lips to him, and he met me halfway for a kiss.

The swirling mixture of our combined seed as a heady thing, and it drew another moan from my chest that made me spasm with the last vestiges of our shared pleasure. His arms pulled me all the closer for it, and for a while we simply laid in the circle of each other's arms, languidly kissing and reveling in the essence of our passion and love.


	21. Chapter 21

POV: Danse

It took a moment for my heart to return to its regular rhythms, and with Quinn so close, I wasn't sure that it was so regular after all. He laid sprawled against my chest, his frame glistening with the moisture of perspiration from our lovemaking. My body beneath him was perfectly still, and my arms around him held him tight - the corded muscles spilled tension and need, and it was the vision of that alone that was a denotation to the fact that I was nowhere near finished.

I wasn't sure that either of us were going to come out of this war that we were staring with Arthur Maxon alive, and I wanted to make sure that I had my fill of the sacchariferous man.

I knew, though, that no matter how many times I tasted his lips... I was never going to have enough of Quinn, or his scorching kisses that had breathed life into my very veins. He touched me, blazen and bolden like there was no tomorrow to count on. I touched him, in turn, like a perfect promise that I would make _sure_ we had another day. My heart was liquid steel, because I knew that I would fight Maxon - I would do everything that I could to make sure that Quinn and I had a future. That the _Commonwealth_ had a future. I wanted the world to be a place that I could live, that I could thrive and enjoy my life with the man who laid so perfectly atop me.

I would fight Arthur Maxon, because he'd already taken too much away, and I wasn't going to let him do the same with the future that seemed so intangible right now for my lover and myself.

"Quinn..." My voice was a soft ache when I spoke, and I threaded my fingers through the black strands of his hair. Though he kept the sides extremely short, the top was getting long enough that it was spilling easily into his gaze. The dampened strands clung to his forehead as I brushed them back, and he opened green eyes with a languid laze that was tempting in and of itself. He looked like sex made human, temptation given form and grace. His eyes burned like emeralds, liquid green fire that could scorch the soul and strip you of all that you were... blinding flame that could make you a new man. A better man.

"Hmmm?" A dark brow arched, but he nuzzled gently against the calloused palm that cupped his cheek. I enjoyed the feel of his scruffy facial hair against my skin for a moment before drawing him close to press my lips against his. I was absorbed in the velvet feel of his pout, the soft lines that his tongue ran along the roof of my mouth, as though he was giving me the very secrets of the Universe in a scripture that I couldn't decipher. After a moment, my breath came out soft and shaking.

"Let's move upstairs." Thick, thready, a deep rumble. My voice was lower and full of heat, and I could _feel_ Quinn's body react to the request. His prick gave the slightest jump. I knew that it would take him a bit longer to recover than myself - my synthetic components seemed to give me a penchant for endurance. In my arms, Quinn gave an anticipatory shiver.

"All right." I didn't give him a chance to push himself from my frame. Instead, I shifted upward, my arms shifting beneath his knees and his shoulders. I picked him up, bridal style, and he let out a mixture of shout and laughter. His arms wrapped around my neck instantly, and I took just a moment to enjoy the sensation of it; holding him in my arms and his arms holding me back just as tight.

I had endeavored to understand the pre-war era as best I could, and I knew that there were implications of this particular stance, where Quinn was from. I wondered if it evoked correlating thoughts within him - marriage, a life where we could have known peace and happiness. For just a moment, I could see it. The decayed and ruined homes that we'd entered a hundred times springing to life, with vibrancy and color - Quinn soft and sweet beneath clean sheets, smelling of a fresh shower. Children laughing... the air fresh. No fear, no threats.

Just... simplicity.

"Danse?" Quinn seemed to notice that my mind was drifting away, and I turned my gaze back to him instantly. I didn't know what depths my brown hues held, but it seemed to elicit a reaction from him. He leaned closer, his lips finding the pulse of my neck and closing around it. The warmth of his mouth, the soft sting of his teeth clamping down lightly spurred me forward. I marched us up the stairs, my arms hardly feeling the strain of his weight. The sheets of the bed were still rumpled from when we'd made love the first time, and my libido felt the provocation of the site. It was visceral, burning through me... but my body wanted something different.

There was a part of me that was tempted to throw him to those sheets and repeat what had happened before. But more than that, there was a part of me that wanted to _feel_ Quinn. To do that, I'd need to get him ready for another round. I dropped him carefully to the sheets and crawled atop him. His skin was flushed, the sun-kissed tone a shade darker - his body had a soft sheen of sweat to it from our earlier exertions, and when I dipped my head down to kiss gently at his neck, I could taste the salty flavor of it.

"Mmm, you're already up for round two, aren't you?" He didn't sound surprised, but instead impressed - admiring, perhaps. I let a low, masculine chuckle spill from my chest.

"Don't worry, soldier. I'm sure I can get you up to the task, too." My teeth grazed at the hollow of his neck, working up so that I could swipe my tongue in a hot line to the curve of his ear. He let out a small sound, his body arching upward. His legs spread for me, wrapping around my frame. It would have been so easy then and there to shift my hips and take him, claim him... but it wasn't what i wanted.

It wasn't what my body was craving - Quinn had taught me, more than anyone else, that sometimes we had to give into those libidinous desires. The libertine beneath me was going to have to withstand my careful ministrations until I was ready for him.

Until he was ready for me.

"Lube?" My question was soft, eager, and heated. Dark lashes fluttered like a half moon crescents on his cheeks for a moment, but his hand moved with a surety, his fingers fishing at the cabinet beside the bed and coming back with a small container. The fact that he had it, prepared and ready for us made my stomach crawl and squirm. He'd stocked this room with thoughts of two bodies writhing together in thought. I took the lubrication from him with smooth fingers, pulling the top off of the container and letting my fingers dip into it. I was careful to only take a fourth - only enough for my digits. I had other plans for the container - he just didn't need to know that as of yet.

I was careful to place the small jar to the side before continuing with my slow assault of Paladin Quinn's body. My mouth latched to the lobe of his ear, teeth worrying it gently. My hand, in turn, trailed downward - lube slicked fingers played against his already half-mast dick for just a moment, but I dipped lower. I worked my digits against the tight ring of muscle that led to his core like I would a suit of power armor. All careful circuits and connections - things that needed my delicate and precise attention, if I wanted the power armor to serve me at full efficiency. Quinn was that suit of armor, and I wanted to tune him up until he functioned at maximum capacity.

There was no protest when I pressed one finger against that tight ring, only eager need. His hips worked upward, gyration meeting the propulsion of my fingers so that there was only a moment of resistance. Quinn cried out, keening and moaning against the extremity that delved into his inner chassis. I let the digit thrust deep, diving into the knuckle before hooking, rocking and working against the cluster of nerves that brought his back arching up off of the mattress. He let out a whimper, and that cry held my name in its depths. I growled against his skin in return - my mouth chased across his jawline, catching his lower lip between my teeth. My other hand came up, palm flat to press against the lean-muscled planes of his torso. I held him against the mattress and worked my finger slowly, until he was a writhing, squirming mass of need beneath me. Only when he called my name out in protest of my slow assault did I let another finger slip upward to join its brother.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he gasped the words out, but there was no bite to them. His body tried to move in time with my fingers, but my hand on his waist kept his hips from working upward to meet my slow assault - I wasn't going to let him take control of the situation. I wasn't going to allow him to lure me from my path, like a willothewisp, all green flame and promises.

I wanted this just as I saw it in my head, and my devilish lover was just greedy enough that he'd try to sway me from that decision if I allowed him to.

"Only a little." My voice was a soft tease, all heat and unfamiliarity to me. He made me bold, when I'd never been brazen before. I knew that I was awkward in most situations, and stern in the best. I'd only opened up like this to one other man before Quinn... and Cutler had died before I could truly understand the depths of the feelings that I had for him. The fact that Quinn and I were on the brink of some great cliff that could either plunge us over the edge of divinity or doom was not lost to me - I knew that we would make it, in the only way that an unknown future could truly be discerned. It was hope alone, and faith in the strength of who we were, what we were.

It was hope in the promise of our love, and in the knowledge that what we were doing was the right thing. Maxon was wrong.

Maxon was wrong.

Quinn leaned back beneath my fingers then, his hips the only part of him that he seemed unable to control. They still worked against my fingers, and I crooked the digits languidly into his heat, stroking upward and playing against the wall of his insides, fingers scissoring against the bundle of nerves until his prick was hard and dripping precum, sweet pearls of proof at how well I was doing my job.

He was gasping now, and it was my name in soft pants that fell from his tongue like poetry. "Danse... please... stop... t-teasing me." It was a moan, and his chest rose and fell with such voracity for my tongue that I was worried he would faint. "Can't take much more of this, babe." His voice was blistering, leaving paths of scalding need across my nerves. My hand only pressed harder against his torso in response.

"Danse!" Quinn shouted this time, and my fingers dove hard inside of him, staying buried in his depths this time. I'd pulled back from his lips some time ago, so that I could watch the way that his face contorted in need and desire, and to see it so strained now that his eyes were dilated pupils with only the slightest ring of green, like viridian etched around onyx.

"Shhh, Quinn." My voice rumbled. I dipped my head down, licking a low line along his neck and then diving my head to nuzzle at the hollow of his throat. "Are you burning?"

"Like molten metal." He grunted the words out, and I let my fingers slide slowly from his heat. He felt molten.

It felt strange, speaking to him - we'd been so caught up in our actions before, a whirlwind of wanton desire. Now, I stoked the flame like coals blowing life into a great fire. "How much do you want me?"

" _Fuck._ " His eyes clenched shut tight at my words, and he seemed incapable of answering me.

Blood threatened to rush to my face, but seeing him squirming beneath me, it was all pumping south. I let my voice spill into a tone of command - to the Paladin that I had once been. I could see the way that it affected him; his eyes were heavy lidded, his breath coming in sharper now than before. His fought against me, his hips trying to raise, his legs wrapping around my torso and pulling me forward. I shifted with it, my pelvis angling down. Instead of pressing the tip of my length to his stretched entrance, I worked forward so that our pricks pressed together. My broad palm spilled forward, wrapping around both lengths and giving a hard pump.

Quinn cried out beneath me as though he'd never felt anything so sinfully delicious in his entire life. I let my fingers work against our lengths for a moment, until my own frame was shivering above him in need. He was ready - we were both aching for it. But...

"I said," I stroked along our lengths once more, hard. My fingers pulled upward, against the flared heads that joined and spilled pearls of begging liquid. Pre-cum slickened my palm, and made him whimper when I slicked it back his length. "How much do you want me?"

"Fuck. D-Danse." His eyes clenched tight again, and his entire body was one fine trembling pulse beneath me. his breath came in sharp, quick gasps that barely gave him purchase to speak. Somehow, he managed. " _So fucking much_. Please?" And then, sharp, punctuating each breath that he took. "Please. Please."

I couldn't wait any longer.

I pulled back from him, my fingers finding the jar that I'd set aside earlier. When I unscrewd the cap, there were nearly tears of relief in his eyes.

"Yes, _please._ " But my fingers that dipped into the container didn't go to my length - instead, they slicked forward, working along his cock until he was glistening with lube. I spilled forward, my arms wrapping around him and flipping him in a sudden motion. He was atop me, his slicked cock streaking petroleum against my taut stomach.

" _Fuck me_." My voice was a hard command, but it was full of the liquid heat of _need_ and _desire_. It jolted him like a physical thing, made him whimper again, gasp in desire. His cock _pulsed_ in front of me, twitching and jerking at the tone of my voice. I'd never asked him for this, but the prospect of it wasn't met with displeasure - quite the opposite, in fact.

 _"_ _ **Yes**_ _, sir._ " Quinn's voice was a purr when he spoke.

A low moan caught in the back of my throat, because he knelt between my legs like a good soldier. His hands smoothed up and along my thighs, begging them to part without saying a word. I happily complied to the silent urging, and was rewarded with the sight of Quinn bringing his fingers to rock along his lube-slicked-prick until the digits glistened.

It only took them a moment to disappear between us, and I felt their warmth instantly find the pucker between my cheeks. He gave a small stroke, drawing another low sound from my chest, vibrating through me so that I knew he could feel it.

The tips of his fingers teased at my entrance, and there was a moment of spark in his green eyes that made him look like nothing less than a puckish devil. He grinned softly at me, playing again at my center without actually penetrating the tight ring of muscles that needed his touch.

"Quinn..." Dark brows knit together, but I couldn't actually frown at him. If anything, it was tit for tat. However, his eyes dropped in a falsetto demur fashion, and his lower lip fell into a pout. "Don't tease, soldier." My voice came back firm, and I saw another slow shiver spill down the length of his spine at the way that I spoke. My pseudo command over him seemed to be something that he desired, craved even. I stored the information away for a later date, arching my hips up instead, a physical demand to go along with my verbal order. In perfect response, the longest of his digits slid past my defenses and spilled inside of my core. I growled out at the pleasure of it, my body screaming in half-protest of the sudden motion. However, his fingers were as skilled at playing my body as they were disassembling and reassembling his pistol for a cleaning. He worked that digit for just a moment, until a low murmur of pleasure was pouring at a constant rate from my chest.

After a moment, his second digit joined into the fray - as it slid home, he leaned forward and caught my mouth. "Like this?" He crooked those slender digits, working against me in the same way that I'd teased him earlier. I nodded in affirmation, but answered him with the hungry press of my mouth, the probing of my tongue that demanded he split his pout for me so that I could taste the soft velvet of his own in turn. His fingers plunged into me once, twice, thrice more, and then the unwelcome sensation of being empty poured over me. I knew, however, that it would be quickly replaced - and Quinn did not disappoint.

I felt the flared tip of his head, slicked with lubrication and pre-cum. It hesitated at my entrance for just a moment. His hands came forward, one moving to the side of my head and the other sliding along my thigh to catch beneath my knee. He lifted my leg this way, drawing it upward until my need was nearly against his chest - spreading me wide.

"Ready?"

"Affirmative." _Yes, please. Now._

He bit his lower lip, and I was nearly jealous of the motion - I wanted to catch that pout between my teeth and demand that he move. _Now_. I didn't have to, however, because his hips worked forward and his flared head pushed past the ring of muscle and into the tight confines of my ass before plunging into my depths. He moved in a fluid motion that tore a cry of pleasure from my throat - though he worked slow, careful, he didn't stop until he was completely encased, our bodies pressed tight to one another and the warmth of him radiating through me. I felt so _full_ , so fucking perfect in that moment. Quinn vibrated above me, his eyes closed, his body a trembling pulse of pleasure. I could feel more core squeeze tight around him, my body demanding without words that he _move_. I felt, in that moment, that if he didn't I would burn from the inside out until there was nothing left of me but ashes.

One hand spilled greedy to his hip, fingers chasing upward to squeeze at the plump fullness of his ass. Digits dug in, and with a simple squeezing prompt, Quinn began to _move_. We both rode on the same heights of need to make this moment matter, to make it count, to make it burn into our very souls. If we died within the next few days, what we did in this bed would forever be scorched into the earth as a permanent mark of our passion.

With my free hand, I stretched my fingers up, digging into his hair and jerking his head sharp downward, so that the next moan that spilled from my chest was caught and fed into the softness of his lips and the hot depths of his mouth.

I fed my desperation and need into that kiss, all teeth and tongue and growls of pleasure and desire - in response, his hips snapped forward hard. I nearly screamed into his mouth, and the hand the hitched my knee upward spilled the limb even further, until it was nearly pressed to his collarbone, splayed upward between us so that I could taste the press of his mouth. His hips were relentless, and I was like helpless to do anything other than writhe and rock my body in tandem with his assault. I fought with the need to close my eyes - brown hues were greedy for the sight of him. His own lids were closed, and when he pulled back from our kiss his full lips were bruised and full from our kisses. His brows were sharp, drawn together, with sweat chasing along their curve... and his jaw, sharp enough to cut glass, was held taut with the way that he concentrated on the fluidity of his motion. His hips snapped forward hard, and hard again... and I could barely catch breath into my lungs to let out another low growl of pleasure.

"Harder," the breathe formed into a word, and Quinn seemed only too happy to comply. His free hand came forward, wrapping behind my neck to give him more purchase for the motion that he fell into... and then he was nothing but that movement. We were liquid fluidity and the sound of flesh slapping flesh - we were fucking and passion, and we had both teased each other to such edges that I knew that it wouldn't last half as long as I wanted.

But it didn't matter, because the moment was perfect. Liquid heat was pooling in the bit of my stomach, threatening to spill over at any moment - and it was the sudden sight of Quinn's eyes snapping wide that pushed me over the edge. The thick head of him raked again over the sensitive bundle of nerves that was my prostate gland, and those green hues burned into my soul. They spoke litanies of his emotion for me - deep burning love that rode the wings of desperation and need, the need to survive, the need to be with me, always. He didn't have to say anything. I could feel it, just from the look that he gave me... and that look, that look and his cried pleasure of my name was all that I needed.

Orgasm ripped through me, tearing his name roughly from my throat - I came hard, liquid ropes of seed spilling up to spatter against my lifted knee, his chest, to fall in thick drops back against my own flesh. My body clenched hard around him, my frame rising up and threatening to rip my knee from his grip. He bore down on me, and I felt his hips work against me hard - once, twice, thrice, grinding and pouring over that sensitive cluster of nerves again and again until I was screaming beneath him.

His name turned into words - three words. The _only_ words.

 _"I love you._ " Gasped through orgasm, so ragged that he shouldn't have had the capability to understand me. My hands clung to him, blunt nails biting into his ass cheek, greedy digits dragging him down for another scorching kiss - and it was all that he needed. His head fell back, his eyes boring into my own... and I felt the liquid heat of his pleasure spill and paint my inner sanctum, hard and thick enough that I felt it spatter between my cheeks to stain the sheets beneath us.

"Fuck... fuck, _fuck_." His words were hot, emphatic, burning. His hips worked hard, two more snaps that left him buried deep inside of me and collapsing against me. Only then did he let my knee go. Only then did he fall into my frame, his arms wrapping tight around me and his nose moving to skim my throat before he settled completely against me. For a moment, he lay there, a quivering mass of satisfaction... and then his lips found the thundering pulse of my throat, and I heard his voice come out in a soft murmur. "Mmm... love you, too..." And then I felt his lips quirk into a impish grin, and he added softly, _"Sir._ "

My arms tightened around him, and I pulled him closer to my chest. My pulse was a hard thrum, and I could feel the beating of his heart in time with it. There were still many hours til morning, and I was voracious for the sensation of our passion... but above me, in my arms, Quinn was sweetly still, and the upturn of his lips told me that he was content...

And for now... just for now... that was more than enough. My body tingled with our combined pleasure, my core thick and filled with his spunk. With Quinn nuzzling my throat and murmuring soft litanies of love, I couldn't worry about tomorrow. Not just yet - for now, just for now... it was just the man in my arms, the man that I loved.

And that was more than enough for me.


	22. Chapter 22

Part 22

POV: Quinn

No matter how much you want to ignore it, tomorrow always comes. If I could have, I would have frozen time and stayed there in Danse's arms for the rest of our lives. But, whether we willed it or not, dawn crept along the horizon and told us that it was time to prepare for war. I felt my lover laying beside me, his tense body telling me that he was awake, though he tried to keep his breath even in an attempt to feign sleep.

I understood. I didn't want to wake up, either. But we had to, because everyone was waiting for us.

For a moment, I let myself lay there, in the circle of his arms and surrounded by the scent of our passion... but that moment passed, and my muscles tensed. Danse felt it.

"Quinn?" A question. Maybe a plea?

"It's time to go." And even to me, I sounded miserable about it.

I knew that I couldn't show it though, I turned in his arms, and I let a smile fall across my full lips. He stared up at me, and I could see the unsureity in his eyes. I leaned forward and let my mouth press a soft kiss to his own.

"It's going to be okay, Danse."

He pulled back, and there was still doubt in his eyes - I didn't like seeing it. After a beat, I finally leaned forward, letting my forehead press to his own. "What is it?" Other than the fact that we're going to battle.

"What if the Brotherhood won't follow a new rule?" It seemed like the thought had been on his mind for a bit, and I frowned. I didn't have to ask him to go on - he seemed to understand my confusion. "We were something better, once. We cared about helping the people... and look where that got Elder Lyons. What if..?"

What if the Brotherhood can't change.

"There will be people who won't change, Danse. But there will also be a few good men, like you, who will. We aren't taking over an army, we're rebuilding it from the ground up, with good people like you as the foundation." Lives would be lost - there would probably be members of the Brotherhood who refused to accept what we were attempting... I was prepared for that. But Danse's indecision made me ache. I knew that this was hard for him - this was his family, and I was telling him that we'd have to cut our losses and try to rebuild.

What made me proud was the fact that he pushed himself into an upright position, so that the sheet fell away from his bare upper torso. He nodded at me, slowly, but with an attempt at a smile crossing his visage. "It's the best that we can do, isn't it?"

"We'll make thing right." I sat up with him, letting my fingers dance against his bare flesh for just a moment before forcing myself out of the bed. I let my desire for him show across my features, in the way that my body jerked just at the sight of him. "But only if I get dressed - otherwise, we're going to stay in bed all day."

He smiled, softly, but it was real.

For now, that would have to be enough. Eventually, Danse would smile again, and it would be genuine and honest. That was the day that I was looking for - that was the erason that I was willing to go on.

Danse's smile would be a damn beautiful thing.

I had to go into the Cambridge Police Station alone, and a part of me twitched at leaving Danse a few yards away, hidden in a building that we'd cleared of ghouls. The power armor clad Knights at the door congratulated me on my promotion, one going so far as to say that Danse got what he deserved. I felt my jaw ticking, the muscle a fine twitch that should have been warning enough for the man to keep his mouth shut. What surprised me, however, was the one lone Knight who stood at the door. Even through the comm unit of the Power Armor, I could hear the lament in his voice.

"I always thought Danse was a good man." Not machine, but man. God, but I wished that Danse could be here to see that even if it was just a few out of the pack, there were those that supported him. I took a moment to catch the Knight's name, and then a voice rang out - sarcastic and full of disdain as ever.

"Look who finally decided to show back up. Did you ever clear out that damn location I gave you?" Rhys - Rhys, acting as though nothing had happened. I turned, and I couldn't even see a reflection of the pain that he'd let paint his entire body earlier. There was a part of me that was shocked, but a deeper part of me was impressed that he could manage himself. Personally, my emotions were out on my sleeve more than I liked, my eyes far too expressive and my temper too short for my own good when it came to people that I loved.

I stepped forward, leaning against the doorway to the station. "Sure did. Ready to report, if you wanna talk."

He stared at me hard for a moment, and then nodded. I watched his eyes sweep to the Knight that I'd been talking to, and he gave the young man a nod. He'd told me his name was Carnes, and I was already counting him as someone on our side.

"Come on in, the locker room's clear. I'm sure no one wants to hear about how your lazy ass took months to clean out a mutant den." And he swept back into the police station without a second glance at me.

Stepping in, though, it was the oddest sensation. There was no Haylen, coming up and asking me about the new artifacts that I'd found. The computer that she usually worked out was just a black screen. Her chair was empty.

Her cot was gone.

Haylen wasn't here anymore, and she never would be again. It ached through me, that knowledge... and I could only begin to imagine what Rhys had to go through, waking up each and every day, going to sleep beside that cot every night with the knowledge that she was gone.

The tense way that he held himself didn't indicate that pain, but I wanted to promise him that soon, we would make him pay. Soon.

It was only when we were safe in the makeshift locker room, with Rhys closing the door behind us that he finally let the tenseness run out of his shoulders. His eyes turned to me, and I saw the haunted expression lingering in those depths for just a moment before he did something impressive.

He pulled himself upright, and he pushed the agony into the back of his gaze so that he could focus on the task at hand. "Where's Danse?" And concern laced through his voice to the point that it made my heart warm. "What's going on? I assume you have a reason to be here?" I recognized the sharp tone as the same man who had begrudgingly given me credit every time I cleared out a super mutant den - old habits die hard, I guess.

"Have you heard any news from the Prydwen?" My voice was low, urgent. "Do you know how many of the Brotherhood are going to stand with Danse," _if any_. My mind finished the sentence, and I wanted to berate it. After all, there was the Knight outside who seemed upset with the fact that Danse was gone. I just needed to hold out hope that there were more like him.

Rhys leaned against the wall, looking down at his hands. "There are a handful who are vocal about the fact that what happened to Danse was a damn shame." He smirked at me, even though the emotion was a bit hollow, "I can tell you, they aren't too happy with the man who was _supposed_ to be his friend going off to gun him down for a new set of Power Armor." I felt my face flush crimson, even though I hadn't actually done such a thing. The fact that Maxson thought that I _would_...

I seethed.

"You know I didn't-"  
"I know. And they'll know, too. There's about seven of them who are willing to speak out about it." And I could hear the apprehension in Rhys' voice. Of course, I knew where it came from. If they were being bold enough to speak out about it, then they were putting themselves into a precarious position with their power maddened Elder.

"Only seven?" It wasn't a good number. It wasn't nearly enough to make a show of force, or have the kind of backup that we would need.

"Speaking out against the Elder isn't something to be done lightly. Though, it's not just those seven who don't sit well with what happened. Even Ingram and Brandis seem unhappy about it, if plied with alcohol and asked. A little less than half of the Brotherhood doesn't seem completely pleased that Danse is gone, even if they'll only admit it in whispered hushes when they think no one can hear them." Rhys let his hands scrub along his orange uniform. "I don't know if they'll stand with us when we confront Maxson, but I think that their opinion on synths have been rocked. At least a little."

And a little would have to be good enough, it seemed. "We've set up a meeting with Maxson."

And he seemed completely taken aback by the fact that I'd managed to get a meeting so quickly. I saw fear trill through his eyes like a living, breathing thing... but he squashed it into the back of his hues, along with the pain from earlier. It seemed that Rhys was ready and willing to do whatever it took in order to put the world right, to get things back to their place.

I understood. I understood exactly what he was feeling and thinking - I wanted to make the world right, too... I wanted to give Danse back the home that he still craved, and piece together the confidence that being a Paladin had given him. Even though I could see him learning to stand on his own two feet now, I knew that having the Brotherhood back would mean something to him that I could never fill.

And maybe, maybe we could manage to make a difference within the ranks. Maybe we could do _something_ to help the Commonwealth, instead of a greedy search for technology.

"Are you sure that we're ready for this?" But even as he said it, I heard the cool determination pouring into his voice. I gave a sharp nod.

"I just need to make sure that you're ready to let the people who support Danse know that it's happening. We need as much a show of support as we can. If you can't get them to come because of Danse, tell them to come because of me, because of Maxson - whatever reason you need... we just need witnesses to what we're doing." Danse wanted to talk him down. I was certainly going to try to acquiesce to his desire, but I knew that it wasn't going to be so easy.

In the end, there would be a fight - in the end, positions of power would be challenged... and we needed witnesses for that, too. Regardless of what happened, the epic tale of Arthur Maxson, a man forged from steel, ended. We were rewriting the damn pages, and we needed all of the scribes that we could get our hands on.

I think that Rhys saw all of my thoughts pouring through my visage. I certainly didn't do a thing to hide it, and I knew it. He saw the cool determination pooling into my chest until there was no mercy there, no pity. It was the expression that I couldn't share with Danse, because I knew that he's still try to salvage the situation as best he could.

But I'd been trained for ward, and I'd learned that you had to shoot for the vital spot if you were running into battle. I'd already learned what it felt like to have my heart literally ripped away from me with the people of my past, the people I'd lost.

I wasn't willing to let that happen with Danse.

I think that Rhys saw that on my face too, because i opened his mouth as though he meant to say something - he almost raised his hand to put on my shoulder - but finally he just nodded.

"We'll be ready. Just give me a time and a location."

"You were in there for a long time." Danse's voice was cool worry when I approached him, and I was shocked to find him standing outside of his power armor, his fingers picking at his uniform that he'd pulled on this morning - Brotherhood of Steel. He was going to go, showing that he still felt like he was a part of their force, even if Maxson had exiled him. When I was within distance, he grabbed me and jerked me against his chest. I hadn't been able to see the fine tremors rocking through his body when he was standing there, next to his armor.

But I could feel them as he pulled me to him and hugged me tight.

It only lasted for a second, and then he released me. The amount of emotion that he was allowing to pour from his cool brown eyes was enough to rock me to the core. Danse wasn't that expressive of a man, not often... but he'd been opening up more and more as we spent time together, and I saw real fear and love in his gaze now.

"I couldn't help but to imagine the worse. They figured out you were with me, they figured out what we were planning... I-"

I cut him off with a quick kiss that scorched hot like an ember, and then pulled myself back. As much as I wanted to get lost to physical touch, I knew that we didn't have time. We still had to get up to Sanctuary Hills and grab Preston. We didn't have much time. "Nothing bad happened - Rhys seems to think that the Brotherhood is split in how they feel about you."

His face twisted, and I could tell that it was half joy and half sorrow. I understood; half of the people that he'd called Brothers and Sisters were _glad_ that he was dead, thought that he deserved it. Half of the people that had been his family were no longer considering him as such...

But half of them were, and that had to be enough.

"Okay, let's go." Soft determination, burning in his chest and pouring through his verbalization. He shifted, stepping back into his armor, and I waited until the last piece of metal clicked into place before I took his hand.

Preston had apparently caught wind of what was happening, and he was already prepared with a full force of our men. My heart was warm with out many people were willing to stand with us - Sturges stood proud and strong, giving me a warm smile as we prepared to take off. Dozens of people that I'd pulled in from the Commonwealth, given a hope - apparently Preston had been reaching out to all of the settlements in my absence.

What surprised me was Marcy and Jun Long. Marcy stood as though she wanted to be anywhere other than where she was, but Jun tried to have a look of determination on his face. When I approached them, Marcy's abrasive and bitching tone instantly hit my ears and made me wince.

"Listen, I'm not doing this out of some sense of _caring_." Scathing even, but I let her get her words out. "I'm doing it because this is my home _, our_ home. We have to fight for it." And Jun took her hand - for all that there relationship was, they were willing to stand together now. I gave a small nod, and went back to Preston.

"Is it time, General?"

I saw the worry on his face, and I knew that he realized the same thing that I did, staring out at the small army that was ready and willing to follow me, even against the Brotherhood of Steel. If a fight broke out, we'd lose some of them. They were armed with pistols and rifles, things that I'd brought back - I'd always made sure they were capable of defending themselves.

And now they held those guns in defense of me, of my beliefs. My throat felt tight, and beside me Danse was silent in appreciation.

"Yeah... it's time."

There was no turning back now. My army was going to march against Arthur Maxson, and one way or another, I knew that there would be blood.


	23. Chapter 23

I could feel destiny riding against the current of my nerves like waves crashing against the shore. There was really no way to avoid what was going to happen now, as much as I might have liked to. The knowledge that we were going to face Arthur and the Brotherhood itself within moments was a violent thing, beating in the back of my mind and screaming betrayal in my consciousness, even though I knew that we were in the right.

I knew it from the look on Haylen's face, the expression that had forever been burned into my mind. I knew it because of the pain that Rhys had been in, the way that he'd looked at me as though I was his one, last chance at hope and salvation in the situation.

I knew it, because Arthur Maxson had been allowed to run rampant and out of control, from the time that he was a teenager, and somehow... the power had gone to his head and corrupted what was supposed to be a sole forged from steel. He was no God. Someone had to show him that - and one way or another, I wasn't going to leave the C.I.T. Ruins without making sure that I did my best to accomplish just that.

As we approached, I saw Quinn frown. His eyes were sweeping the location, and after a moment, I couldn't help but to ask him, "What's wrong?" Other than the obvious. I think that he could hear it in my tone, because he gave a soft shrug.

"The Institute isn't very far from here," his eyes flicked to the ground, "Beneath us though. I wonder, is Shaun going to hear about this?" I saw his lips twitch, almost a frown, but more of a sardonic smirk. "I can't worry about that right now, though. I need to worry about the task at hand." And the formality and near finality in his tone told me that he knew the dire terms of the situation, and perhaps the stress that was aching through my body in a near palpable line.

"Don't worry about him." He'd said it, but I needed to reinforce it. The urge to reach out and take his hand was striking violently through me... but now wasn't the time. It wasn't that I was ashamed of our relationship - I didn't care if anyone in our party knew. But both of us needed our hands free; I still remembered the Vertibird attack, after Arthur had said he wouldn't come after me.

I wouldn't put it past him to do something similar now. We were coming to challenge the Brotherhood of Steel itself, to challenge everything that he stood for. We were threatening his very essence, and I knew him well enough to know that Arthur Maxson was a man who liked to strike first.

Even though I couldn't hold his hand, I did reach out and let my fingers squeeze his shoulder gently, if only for a moment. The touch poured through him, from his shoulder to his feet - I watched it nearly pulse through his body and into the ground, giving him a soft wave a relaxation.

I savored in the sight of it, because I knew it wasn't going to last. I could hear Vertibirds in the distance, and looking out ahead showed me the sheen of power armor. Lines of power armor, bright orange flight suits... and in front of it all, the tall and proud figure of Arthur Maxson.

The sight of him made something in my chest squeeze tight - his face was impassive, I could tell that from a distance. He had no mercy in his stance, no regret, no remorse... he looked like he was going to go into battle, and he didn't have a problem with it. He looked as though he wasn't facing down one of his most loyal Paladins, and the people that called him ally.

He looked as though he could kill me without even blinking, and even Quinn's presence wasn't going to save me this time. There was a part of me that wanted to tell Quinn that we needed to go - I'd seen the full force of Arthur's military prowess and determination before. He was skilled, and he was deadly. But the man standing beside me seemed strong enough to overcome that.

More than that, I had an image of Haylen in my mind, and I couldn't simply let her death go unpunished, unaddressed. I knew that Rhys would be here, amongst the crowd - Rhys and the other members of the Brotherhood who still believed in me, still thought that I was a man, more than a machine. I couldn't simply let them down. I wouldn't let them down. With the thought steeling hard in my chest, I stepped forward with Quinn.

"Maxson," Quinn shouted his name out, and I could tell that he'd intentionally left the word Elder off. As we approached, I saw an impassive face turn into a scowl, and that scowl turn into pure fury when his eyes locked with my own. It stung; again, it stung. I'd dedicated my life to serving him, to his vision and his mission. But I let my own looks how my emotions back - disappointment, anger at what he'd done to Haylen... and beneath that all, pity for the fact that he'd allowed himself to become more of a monster than the Institute could ever be. I think that it was the last emotion that brought his brows sharp together, the last emotion that caused him to turn his eyes from me and back to Quinn.

"Paladin Quinn," And Maxson used the title like a weapon; Paladin, a part of the Brotherhood of Steel. A part of the very group that he was betraying in that moment. Quinn didn't flinch, and I could see anger and determination running off of him in lines that left him nearly trembling beside me. "Do you honestly have the audacity to come before me with that thing at your side?" Maxson's voice trembled in nearly uncontrollable rage, and he gestured violently in my direction with one gloved hand. Quinn's voice snapped out before he had a chance to further address us.

"I come before you as a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, as a member of the Commonwealth - I'm here with backup from every faction, from all of the people that you should be here to protect." Quinn hissed the last word out, and I knew that it as an accusation. I knew that, above all else, that was Maxson's treason in his eyes. He was a leader with the power to keep people safe... and he wasn't using that power for good. He wasn't even using it to protect his own people.

"It is not the Brotherhood's place to protect every miscreant of the populace." Maxson's voice rose as he spoke, and I could see him drawing himself up, his shoulders back, his chest out - he spoke to all of the members of the Brotherhood who stood around us now. "Elder Lyons tried to protect the people, and look where it got him," Maxson's eyes were bright; almost too bright. "Look where it got his daughter." And he spoke with a vehemence that I couldn't quite understand. Sarah Lyons had fallen in battle, protecting the people of the Wasteland. Maxson seemed to be seeing it differently. "I am not my mentors, I am not my predecessors, and I will not let the Brotherhood of Steel rip itself apart and fall because some thing infiltrated our ranks and tried to bring us down!" I could hear the passion in his voice, I could see it in clear lines across his face - it was the passion that had first made me believe he could make a difference in the world... and now he was trying to use that passion to bring myself and my allies to our knees.

I couldn't let it happen.

"Arthur," I didn't bother with his last name - I wasn't going to pretend that we hadn't been friendly before my exile. "You still have a chance to salvage this situation."

Even as I said it, I knew that it was fruitless. He turned to me, and the movement was slow, deliberate. His blue eyes were narrowed, but the color that I could see was incited and disgusted - the way that he looked at me, it was as though I was the Institute itself, as though I was everything that had ever wronged him, and he was intent upon making sure that I was wiped from the face of the planet.

"I will listen to nothing that you have to say, synth." And the word was a curse. Quinn let out a low, rumbling growl beside me, and it was feral enough to make me turn - I watched the others in our party turn as well.

"Then let's cut to the chase." Quinn's voice was cold, authoritative. It wasn't full of malice or spite, but it was full of a control that I wasn't used to hearing from him. I knew that he had it in him - of course - but it was so strange to see it come out. He faced Maxson as though he were the Elder, and I saw it flash through the young man's eyes that the soldier staring him down had earned his rank more than Maxson ever could have.

It just seemed to make him angry. "Let's. Men?" The Power Armor clad men behind Maxson raised their guns, and the Elder's arms crossed over his chest. "State your business, and then allow me to carry out the threat that I gave earlier. I showed you mercy once - and this is simply proof of the fact that mercy is something that you never deserved."

"By rights of the Brotherhood of Steel codex, I challenge you to combat for your position." Quinn's voice rang out the words that I'd told him, and Maxson's face blanched, only slightly. He quickly corrected himself, his brows knitting hard together.

"Do you think you that you have the authority?"

It was Rhys who spoke then, and he stepped forward with his arms at his side but his face stubborn. I could see his barely concealed rage beneath the expression that he gave, and I knew that it was Haylen's face on his mind as he spoke. "Quinn is within his rights - he's a Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel. As far as I know, you haven't stripped him of that rank, have you?"

And the men behind him looked around, a soft murmur spilling through the crowd. I could see it - even the men who stood behind Maxson - their eyes swept across the show of force that we'd brought; the Commonwealth and all of its factions united behind Quinn. I didn't even have to glance at him to know that he looked the part of a proud Paladin, of a man who was within every right to challenge Maxson. No one stepped forward to protest Rhys' words... and Maxson noticed that, too.

"I am within my right to do whatever I choose. I am Arthur Maxson! I am your Elder! I-"

"Have no right to disregard the rules that your very forefathers put into place." Quinn's voice cut him off sharply, and he took a step forward. "Stand and fight me, Maxson, or I'll take you down in front of your men without blinking. Are you a coward?"

Maxson's face shifted color, from pale to crimson with fury. His hand shifted, and I knew that he would be going for a gun in his coat. I stepped forward to Quinn's side - at the same time, Glory and Deacon moved forward, and Hancock, Preston and the others weren't far behind.

Maxson didn't seem to care. His hand continued to shift, and I knew that his fingers were flexing over the gun. "Do you dare think that you are strong enough to challenge the Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel?"

Quinn stopped for a moment, and just a moment. He shook his head, slowly. "No, but I think I'm strong enough to challenge a man who has lost sight of the fact that all of the people of the world are worth helping. You aren't fit to lead, Maxson - and if I have to do it through fighting, I'll prove it to everyone here." Quinn stood stall, proud... and I'd never loved him more than I did in that moment for looking so brave, and for standing so proud. I realized, in that moment, that it had never been Maxson who I believed in, who I needed to see as a leader. It was a man like Quinn - a man who believed in the people, in protecting the world that he cared about... even when the world had never done him a favor. It had taken everything from him, and he was still willing to put his life on the line to protect us all.

He was a man who could lead, even if it was a position that he didn't want. He was a leader that we needed, perhaps because he didn't want to do it in the first place.

That made him something special.

"You're choosing your death, Paladin Quinn." Maxson drew his title out slowly, and I felt my nerves set on edge. Just because Maxson had agreed to help, it didn't mean that he was going to fight fair. He turned to the people behind him, the Paladin's and Knights who stood tall, and his voice rang clear. "If you are willing to let this man, this synth lover, fight your Elder - to challenge my authority and attempt to take my place, then I will do whatever is necessary to prove to you all that the Brotherhood of Steel, that the Maxson bloodline is pure, is ready to lead you to victory. If you agree to this brothers and sisters, I will fight."

I could see them shifting, could see them thinking it over - I didn't want Maxson to talk his way out of this - the very fact that he would challenge the Codex was beyond me. Of course, I should have known - I should have known that he would do whatever it took to keep himself in power. I stepped forward again, my voice ringing out loud, clearly. I didn't know how they would feel with me addressing them, but I knew that I had to try.

"Brothers, sisters... are you really going to let him do this?" My voice was soft, but it carried across the ruins of the C.I.T. site. I watched as heads turned to me, and I saw that some of the eyes that glanced my way were full of nothing less than animosity. But, others were filled with curiosity, and some still with compassion - the latter two were fewer and further between, but the fact that they were there at all gave me the strength that I needed to carry on with my speech. "We all joined the Brotherhood for a different cause, but I know why I joined." I was shaking, just slightly - only Quinn and the others beside me could see it. I glanced to the side for just a second; they were all staring at me, Glory with bright, keen eyes, Deacon with his expression covered in dark shades. I took a breath and turned my full attention to the people that I had called my family for so long.

"Whatever the purpose that I was made for - whatever my mission was before I joined the Brotherhood, I have done nothing less than serve within your ranks, our ranks, because I wanted to help the people of the Commonwealth. Look around you," I gestured to the people behind me, to Quinn who stood so proud and strong. "Look at what can happen when you look past your blindness, past your prejudice, and realize that there are people in the world worth saving."

I stepped forward, only just, and I saw Maxson tense - he was silent, for the moment, but I wasn't sure if he was going to let me continue my speech for long. "I am a synth, but I don't feel like a monster." My voice quaked, and I could see the way that it flitted across their faces; disgust, pity, soft respect. "I feel like the same man that I was a few weeks ago - a Paladin who fought by your side, who bled for you, who would have died to protect what I thought the Brotherhood stood for, what we fought for. But this?" I gestured to Maxson, "His blind hatred that he is feeding us all - that he fed me... it's not the way. Hatred of synths is not the way. We've come before you a representation of the Commonwealth united. We can stand together, if we can look past our blind hate. We could make a true difference." My voice grew softer still, and I knew that not all of them would listen. I wasn't sure if any would at all. "The man that stands before you is no leader - Maxson cares for nothing but himself." I took a breath, and it shook. My eyes flicked to Rhys. "You all know Scribe Haylen."

"Danse, stand down." Maxson's voice came out curt, urgent.

"No, Arthur. I won't." My finger shifted, pointing at his chest. "He had her killed for protecting me-"

"Danse, stop it."

"-for saving a synth. Some of you might agree, but I know that you all knew her. She was a good person. The man who swore to protect you all will have you killed if it serves his purpose, he-"

I saw Maxson move as my words spilled out, as the people around him turned their eyes to him... and not all of those eyes were friendly. I saw the flash of his gun, and I heard voices ring out as he aimed it at me.

I shifted, trying to place myself between me and the people behind me - I didn't have time to go for my gun - and perhaps, just perhaps... the Brotherhood would see that he was a coward who couldn't even let a man speak. His actions were proving his guilt.

His gun shifted up, and I didn't have time to move out of the line of his fire. I only had time to shift in front of Quinn - to make sure that the shot wasn't aimed at him... and then I heard the sound of the weapon firing.

"Danse, no."

And I felt it only a second before a hard, warm body was shoving me back, out of the way... and a wash of crimson spattered over my chest as my protector took the bullet that had been meant for me.


	24. Chapter 24

POV: Quinn

There was a moment in watching Danse that I knew I'd found the perfect man to love. My heart hadn't always felt like it would be able to feel this way again... but I did, watching him stand there and deliver his speech, watching the way that it pulsed across the members of the Brotherhood of Steel - the way that it infuriated Maxson. He was strong enough to stand up to him, even though he'd followed Maxson blindly for years...

When Maxson's gun lifted, things seemed to slow down. I had forever to do something - Danse shifted to move in front of me, and at the same time, I shifted to pull him back. I'd get in front of him if I had to - I'd taken so many bullets over the years, one more wouldn't do a damn thing. Of course, Maxson was aiming carefully, and I knew that one more would do something significant.

I think that was why I tried to get in front of him - I'd already lost so many people in my life, so many people that I loved. I couldn't lose Danse, too.

I made it two steps forward when an arm grabbed me, flinging me hard to the side. I'd been told that synths were excellent in their movement and reflexes - and Glory had been a courser, once upon a time. She moved now, and I could see that training in everything that she did. She shifted her body in front of Danse, and looked back at us both as the bullet took her; I think she meant to smile… and it would have been one of the first that I'd seen on her serious expression. I think she'd meant to do a lot more things in this world, before the bullet caught her - but instead, she laid herself out as a sacrifice, and I couldn't move forward in time to pull her out of the way..

She slid me a look - one, long look... and then a spatter of crimson washed from her chest and sprinkled Danse's face. The bullet that was meant for him lodged in her chest, and her expression instantly softened, her eyes widening with pain. My lover shifted forward, his arms coming out to catch her before she had a chance to crumple - it was now, more than ever, that I saw the difference in him. He didn't care that she was a synth, a member of the Railroad. He didn't care about anything, other than the fact that a woman was dying in his arms; a woman who had sacrificed everything that she was to keep him safe. I was shocked - honestly. Glory was sent to protect us, to be a show of force… but her silvery hair was spattered crimson, and I couldn't look at her without feeling a tremble in my chest.

Her lips moved, and it was hard for me to understand her. "You'll make _the_ difference."

I didn't know if she was talking to me, or to Danse - Danse shifted forward, holding her tight in his arms, and the look on his face was pure horror... pure fury. I think he would have moved on Maxson, but I shifted upward first. My fingers drew out my pistols and I leveled them upward. I realized that the only reason that he hadn't continued to fire off his shots was because Rhys had sprinted forward - Rhys, who laid crumpled on the ground… Rhys, who I couldn't tell if he was breathing.

My vision flashed crimson, and then streamed to a bright burst of color - I'd had enough. I wasn't going to lose one more person to him. He'd just tried to kill Danse, again… and in that one move, had killed one, perhaps two people who were nothing but _good_ , nothing but caring. Who were a representation of the hope that the Commonwealth had - whose light had been snuffed out by his arrogance.

"Face me, Maxson - I've called you out, now _fight me_. You _fucking_ coward." I sprinted forward, and Danse, with his arms full of Glory's still body, couldn't follow me. I fired off two shots before he dove behind the Knights and Paladins who stood before him, his eyes wide with fear, his face an expression that I couldn't quite catch. "You would have killed him! But you killed her, instead. _Another innocent_ dead at your hands. And _Rhys?_ " I still couldn't tell if he was okay. "You'll kill your own people, if it means saving yourself - saving your damn pride! It ends here." I looked at the men and women who stood in front of him. "It ends _now_. Accept my challenge, or step down and never show your face here again." And the crowd in front of him shifted - their eyes weren't for him. They were for me... and I knew that they wouldn't interfere with the rights and rituals that the Brotherhood Codex had laid out in front of them.

Maxson drew himself up tall then, and a part of me wondered if it was because he realized that he had no other choice. His blue eyes were burning, and I couldn't read what they said beneath his anger and fear. But his voice didn't waver when he spoke - it was the same, strong voice that had been booming out a speech when I'd first met him. The same, strong voice that I was sure had led Danse to believe that he could follow Maxson - that he could trust him.

"I accept your challenge - if you choose to stand and protect a synth, to try to tear down the Brotherhood and all that it stands for... then you are the _enemy_." His hands shifted to his gun, and I stood, ready and waiting for him to make a move. "But remember this - even if I fall, the _true_ members of the Brotherhood would never follow someone as disgusting as you. Vile - a lover of a _synth_." He hissed the word out, and it was laced with such venom that it nearly stole my breath. Maxson shifted then, and I knew that it was time.

There was no more talking - no more delay.

We started to dance.

It was a shift of movement that I was used to, and I could tell that Maxson was, too - bullets flew, and the crowd around us backed away until no one was in threat or danger of being hit; the ruins provided the cover necessary to allow our fight to carry on, and I knew that at least I was making sure to only take shots aimed away from our people.

For a few moments, the fight was about ducking behind the cover of fallen buildings, taking the shots that we could take - it was about the prowess of battle, and who had better aim. But it seemed that Maxson's training was just as good as mine, because neither of us seemed capable of landing a shot, though I thought that I saw Maxson jerk once at the collection of a bullet to his shoulder. It was hard to tell with his coat - hard to tell if I'd done damage. The blood didn't show through.

Of course, I knew that this wasn't just about guns... and I felt it when Maxson charged me - my smaller frame went flying as he crashed into me, but my fists were instantly moving, catching him on the jaw as he sent our bodies toppling end over end, trying to gain the advantage to pin me. His hands shifted, fingers trying to grab and clasp around my throat as though he could choke the life out of me in front of all of the people watching - I tucked my chin, shifting to the side and catching his hand against the side of my face instead, when he realized that I wasn't going to let him gain the access that he desired. He shifted again, fingers finding my hair, trying to slam my head against the ground - my hands, in turn, shifted upward, delivering successive punches to his ribs until I heard the difference in his breath, could tell that I'd cracked something. At my side, I could feel hot metal digging into my hip.

I hadn't lost my pistols in the struggle - I'd holstered them in the few seconds that I had while he was charging me; I had no idea if he could say that same about his gun, though I was sure that it wasn't the only weapon that he had on him. As though to prove me right, I felt the vicious bite of a blade, dragging hard against my torso and sending a red-hot line of pain zinging to my mind. I instantly tuned it out - I would patch myself up after, I would worry about the injuries after. For now, all that I could do was to concentrate on the man above me.

He was trying to shift his position so that he could bring the knife around and down into my frame, and I couldn't let him do that. My hands came up, one catching his wrist, the other blindly reaching for the blade that he'd pulled out of his battlecoat - I found the hard, biting edge with my palm, but it gave me the guidance to slide downward and grab the hilt in the same instance that I twisted his wrist. A low growl of pain poured from his chest, but it was good enough.

He dropped the knife, and I felt it tumble from my blood slicked hand. Instead of waiting for him to pull another weapon, I shifted upward. I felt our bodies connect as I threw a headbutt, and I knew that I'd given it enough force, because he seemed to go nearly blind for a moment... that moment was enough for me to shift. I worked my body until my legs were beneath him, and I put all of the power that I had into kicking out against his chest, sending him sprawling back and away from me. It only gave me a moment, but it was enough for me to grab my pistols again, uncaring about my blood slicked hands or the wound that stung more than I would have liked along my torso.

Maxson seemed just as strong in his reflexes as I did, because he'd drawn a pistol from the small of his back, and it as aiming at me.

I had a moment - just one moment - to realize that he could shoot me, just as much as I could shoot him. It wouldn't end well for either of us - and I had another moment to see that knowledge in his eyes. Wide, blue eyes... like the eyes of a kid, because... really, for all that he'd done, that was all that he was.

Wide, innocent eyes, like the boys in my squad who had died in battle - eyes that knew that death was coming, but eyes that were trying to be brave all the same.

It was my hesitation that gave him time to pull the trigger, and I felt it blossom hot and wet and painful along my shoulder. I was lucky that I'd hurt his wrist, or his aim might have been more true.

I heard Danse behind me, shouting my name - coming forward. And I knew what I had to do. I knew it when I saw Maxson's eyes shifted in his direction, his gun twisting to aim at a body that wasn't mine.

I knew that I could never let him hurt another person again, whether his eyes were young or old... they were full of sin that needed to be punished.

With blood spilling in a hot line down my chest, I took aim and pulled the triggers of both of my pistols.

Maxson's eyes were wide for a moment, his mouth working slowly. He turned from trying to find Danse, and he looked at me again... and again, I saw the eyes of our boys that we'd lost, and I felt something inside of me break, just a little. He was lost in that moment, and I could see something in his face - I could make out what his lips were trying and failing to say. _I'm afraid to die, Quinn._ And I could see it on his face - I could see that he was, and I broke more. This hadn't been some epic battle - it had been over within minutes, and it had ended with the death of someone who had barely had the chance to grow up. He was a child, for all of what he'd done - and it as the Brotherhood that had fucked him up to begin with. It was the damn Brotherhood, and the damn Commonwealth, and the fucking war that I'd never been able to stave off.

It was the battle that Silas King and I hadn't really made a difference in fighting - and it was the whole world.

I didn't feel my body falling until I noticed strong arms around me. Catching me... and I didn't notice that my breathing was coming heavy until I looked up and saw Danse's concerned features, staring down at me with worry and anxiety clear on his visage. My eyes slipped from him for a moment to the still figure beside me - blue hues were wide, and his face was frozen in fear and fury and that emotion that I still couldn't read. Forever a child, forever lost in the bullshit that had been put into his head when he was young - Arthur Maxson was dead.

"We won." I smiled, and I tasted crimson on the back of my tongue. I shifted in his arms, propping myself against him to let him know that I'd be okay - I was just tired... tired of all of the fighting, and the bloodshed. Tired of everything that the damn Commonwealth had to offer. And as my gaze swept backward, I was tired of the Brotherhood, because I could see that half of them were furious about what I'd just done, and half were looking at me as though I was their new messiah.

A faction divided, and Danse and I were supposed to lead them... somehow. I smiled up at him with blood on my lips - I could feel where a fist had connected to my pout, but it didn't matter.

"I'll be fine." I answered the question that I saw on his features and put one arm around his shoulder. "Just help me to stand... I think that we need to address them." My eyes swept to the Brotherhood - some who were coming forward, and not all of them looked pleased. I wasn't sure what we were going to do - but we'd fired the shot. We'd taken out their leader. And now, all that we could do was to try and put back together the pieces of their broken family.


	25. Chapter 25

**Part Twenty-Five**

 **POV: Danse**

Quinn was weak in my arms - I could feel the adrenaline leaving his body, and in its place was an exhaustion that, I think, had nothing to do with the battle that he'd just had, and everything to do with the jaded expression that had slipped through his gaze.

I hated that he had to feel that way - I hated that I'd brought him into yet another fight. But it had happened, and we'd won... for all the good that it would do us. The Brotherhood of Steel stood divided in front of us, though I was pleased to see that Rhys was getting to his feet and coming forward to shake Quinn's hand.

"I won't punish those who refuse to follow the new order of the Brotherhood," Quinn's voice was stronger than he felt in my grip; perhaps he was using all of his remaining energy to sound like a leader. "But I won't support you. If you can't accept Danse, accept the fact that things are going to _change,_ " He took a breath, and it sounded like it hurt. It sounded like the words that came from his lips sliced his tongue, "Then you aren't welcome in the ranks."

Exiles, and I could see the men and women staring at him with furious eyes - eyes that told me our fight was far from over. Eyes that told me it had only just begun.

"Elder Quinn," He startled at the name, but that was exactly what he was. He'd defeated the prior Elder, and he was a Paladin in rank. He was the new leader, until the council of the Brotherhood saw fit to appoint a new one. I had a feeling that we weren't going to just let that happen easily. Something had to change.

No, something _was_ _**changing**_. I could feel it amongst the ranks, I could see it in the way that the larger half of the men and women who stood before us retreated, muttering furiously and their fingers tight on the grips of their guns. They were leaderless, and they wouldn't attack.

Not now, not until they came up with a new plan.

For now, we were safe... and I wanted to use that safety to get back aboard the Prydwen. It was only just dawning on me, creeping through my senses, that I could go _home_. It arced through me in titillating excitement that I thought I'd never feel again, like an overwhelming feeling in my chest that was riding on the wings of the losses that we'd experienced for the reward.

But.. I could go back to where I'd always belonged... and the men and women who stepped forward, though they looked almost suspicious, approached me without hostility.

"I also declare that Danse is reinstated as Paladin - he has his rank, his quarters, his Power Armor back." Quinn's voice was strong, loud, and it carried to the retreating men and women. "Anyone who attacks him attacks the Brotherhood itself."

I saw dissension along the lines of their bodies, but the people in front of us didn't give argument.

Rhys actually stepped forward, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's good to have you back, Danse." And there was a murmur of agreement amongst the men and women around us. It wasn't vocal, but it was there.

It was comforting, because my brothers and sisters were bringing me back into the fold... at least, half of them were.

I wasn't sure what would happen with the other half, but that was a problem for another day.

It was as Preston and the others stepped forward, soft congratulations (or whooping excitement from Hancock), spilling from their lips that I turned my eyes back to the still form that had been on the ground.

Glory, who had given her life to save me. Glory, who had believed in me more than the men and women who stood in front of me in sincerity now.

Glory, who Deacon was holding, sorrow clear on his expression.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I was cut short by the sight of a dark clad man, his eyes covered with sunglasses so that his expression was hidden. He had Arthur Maxson's lifeless body in his arms.

"What are you-"

He cut me off before I could finish, "Quinn! You've done Father a favor in taking out this one, but it seems like you've chosen the wrong side, _Elder_." Quinn turned, and his eyes were wide, the exhaustion chasing around his features momentarily disappearing beneath shock.

"X6, what are you doing?"

"Bringing an interesting specimen back to Father." I couldn't read his facial expressions, but Quinn seemed completely stunned that he was there - so much so that he didn't move forward when the tall man hoisted Maxson's body up in his arms. Strength - superior strength... and a courser uniform.

He was a synth.

"Forgive me, but your relay has been deactivated. We can't have you interfering." I heard the sound of guns raising, and Quinn's voice ringing out in an order to _stop_... and then a flash of light engulfed both the tall man who Quinn had called X6 and the former Elder's body...

And they were gone.

Whether Quinn had been telling the men and women to stop, or X6, I wasn't sure. He turned in my arms, and his eyes held alarm, worry. He actually pushed forward, as though to surge from my arms and go into action then and there, and I felt him waver and fall back against me. His voice still held the same conviction. "We have to stop them, whatever they're wanting to do. I can't let Shaun-"

I cut him off with a quick press of my lips against his own, uncaring if the rest of our group saw it. "Don't think about it now, Quinn." It was hard for me to say - a military mind had me on high alert. The fact that Maxson's body had been taken by the _Institute_ was not lost to me.

But Quinn looked like he was ready to collapse, and I wasn't going to risk his life to reclaim a body. "We'll worry about it tomorrow." My eyes flashed to the men and women behind me, and I saw the shock on their faces. The anger, the fury.

The Institute was still clearly the enemy - it was a problem that we would have to handle soon.

But for today, we needed to rest. We needed to recover - we'd lost half of our ranks...

My eyes shifted to the people behind us; Preston, Marcy, Jun, Hancock, and Deacon still holding Glory. We'd won a battle, even if we'd started a war - the Commonwealth had a chance at peace now... if only temporary.

"We should _all_ get back to the Prydwen. Our Elder needs to rest... and we need to get to know our new allies." _And plan for tomorrow_. We would have to address the Institute and their plans then... but a day wouldn't make a difference.

At least, I hoped it wouldn't. Regardless, I knew it would make a difference for Quinn, and I was determined to give that to him. Still, worry struck hard in the back of my mind... programming that I couldn't escape, I guessed.

Quinn was taut in my arms, and I hugged him tighter to me. "Come on, Elder," I smiled softly at the words, letting him see in my eyes how much I loved him - how much I appreciated the fact that he'd fought for me, that he'd _won_ for me. "Let's get you _home_."

Quinn smiled, and it was a beautiful thing. For a moment, it chased away the shadows lingering in his gaze. I watched him flick one last glance at where Maxson had been, the blood still hot on the ground, and he nodded.

"You're right." And then softer still, "You're right." His voice rose, so that everyone could hear it. "Let's get back to the Prydwen." And then softer, so that I could hear it as a murmur above his breath. "I love you, Danse... now, let's go home."

With him standing there in my arms and a new hope of eventual _peace_ on the horizon... I'd never heard anything more sweet.


End file.
